Slayers True
by Eveshka
Summary: Zelgadis falls prey to a spell that Rezo the Red Priest had cast upon him years ago. Now, it's up to Lina and the others to help him figure out how to overcome this latest problem. But somehow Lina becomes a little more involved with the spell than she ha
1. Slayers True: Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Twist Me and Turn Me…

He stood by the water, staring down at the reflection in unmitigated horror. No. It was a lie, a nightmare from which he surely would wake. It must be. It must be! 

Like a madman, he threw himself into the frenzy of a berserker, felling trees and brush with a fraction of a thought. Mindless destruction consumed him, burned from an unfathomable well within his spirit, pushing him for hour upon hour until finally, finally, he fell into the dead sleep of the exhausted, unsensing, unknowing.

He awoke to find himself in his room. One of the men must have found him and brought him back to his room. Maybe it had been a nightmare after all. For a few minutes, he lay in the bed, resting. Yesterday had been… awful. To say the least. He sighed. At least he didn't hurt any more. _It's over. Time to get up and get on with the day…He thought._

At length, he rose, crossing the room lifting a mirror off of his dresser to look within. Casting it across the room to shatter on the floor, he cursed. He had awoken back into the nightmare that had truly only just begun. Stepping away from the dresser, a glint of light caught his eye, the shards of glass giving him an idea. He walked over and collected two of the larger shards. The bedside table held his precious collection of daggers. He took them out of the drawer and sat in the center of the bed. One by one, he appreciated the blades, both for design and craftsmanship. Then, with an almost reverent ceremony, he laid them side-by-side on the bed before him.

The mirrored shards he set aside, dismissing them for the moment. He surveyed the array of daggers on the bed, twelve in all. He was extremely fond of one dagger, picking it up with care. It was a particularly wicked dagger – a waved blade with backwards teeth. It did more damage being pulled out than being placed in. It would suit his purpose well indeed. Taking the dagger in his right hand, he set the hilt of the blade on his left wrist and pulled to the right, bracing himself for the pain that he knew would come, but be only a fraction of the pain from before, and then there would be the blissful peace.

But even as he watched in disbelieving horror, the teeth of the dagger caught and broke as if the blade itself had been one of his mother's brittle china plates.

Numbly, he stared, then grabbed another dagger and repeated the motions.

That one broke too.

One after the other the daggers shattered and splintered, not a one of them doing any harm to him. The glass shards simply shattered as he tried to stab them into his wrist. Anger rose, blind fury falling way to the cold crystalline conclusion that he was an immortal cursed to an everliving nightmarish Hell.

"Damn you," he muttered darkly under his breath, glaring at the broken assortment of daggers, even though they were not the target of his hatred.

"Zelgadis…"

He looked over to the door. That was the target of his hatred, yes, even the very cause of the dark twisting of his youthful soul.

"Zelgadis…"

He turned away from Rezo's voice, glared at the wrist that defied even the sharpest of blades.

"Zelgadis…?"

He blinked. Lina's voice echoed in the foremost of his awareness, and he stopped to see the others some slight distance behind him. He was knee-deep in bushes and weeds, and the rest of the group was behind him standing at a fork in the road. He had been so lost in his memory that he had simply walked on ahead into the grass without noticing the road dividing, leaving the others to stand and watch.

Blushing slightly, he walked back to the group and looked first down one road then the other, wordlessly. Lina, Gourry, and Amelia all looked at each other in concern, but they knew better than to say anything to him. Their stony companion was losing himself in thought all too often again.

After a few minutes of discussion and reason, yelling and squabbling, the group had finally settled on which town to try for new leads on a cure for Zelgadis, and any treasure while they were at it. Along the way, Amelia pulled Lina aside, eyes concerned and voice hushed.

"Miss Lina? I'm… worried about Mister Zelgadis. He seems to be worried or preoccupied about something… and I really think that you ought to talk to him."

Lina stared at Amelia. "What are you talking about? Me? Why me? Look, Amelia, why don't you talk to him? We all know that you like him…"

Amelia almost came to a halt, but managed to catch back up with Lina while stammering and blushing before she got control of herself and sighed. "I do like him, Miss Lina, but I think he likes you more. Besides, it's more than obvious that I make him uncomfortable, and that only serves to push him farther away…"

Lina shook her head. "No, Amelia, I think that he just needs to get used to the thought that someone else can care about him. You two are perfect for each other." _Ano… what am I saying? Why do I have to work this out? It's not like I have an idea how! Why is she picking me? I'm not a psychiatrist, for crying out loud! I'm Lina Inverse, the Dragon Slayer. The beautiful sorceress…She paused in her tirade__. Who just so happens to worry a bit too much about her friends… Lina thought, looking over at the hooded figure in off-white who walked just slightly ahead of the rest of them. __Lost in his thoughts again… what I wouldn't give to understand him just a little more… Little did she know that shortly she would have the opportunity to do just that._

"No, Miss Lina. I mean it. Mister Zelgadis and I would never work out. Even if he were interested in me, the lives of Sailune's Royal Family is far from private, and Mister Zelgadis is a very private person…" Amelia said softly, breaking Lina's mental monologue and returning Lina's thoughts to the moment at hand.

Lina blinked, looking at Amelia, her thoughts snapping back to the concern at hand. Reluctantly, she nodded slowly, and with a sigh, looked back over to Zelgadis. "I hate to have to agree with you, Amelia. You're absolutely right about his privacy. And with that in mind… I don't know how far I'll even get with him. But I'll try. I'll give it the old Inverse try."

It was the dead of night in the small town, and the streets were silent and empty. Much the same could be said about a certain individual's bedroom when Lina went looking for him. She knew that he didn't sleep often, but normally she could find him in his room when she needed to talk. Maybe he had gone to get a cup of tea or coffee… The hotel had a bar…

The bar was empty, but the night clerk had seen her cloaked companion step silently out into the night not too long ago, so Lina took to the night streets herself in search of him after thanking the clerk with a small ruby. It wasn't much of a ruby, and she didn't bother to make it seem like a much bigger stone… but he had done her a favor. The things that she did for her friends…

_Normally, I wouldn't even be worried about Zelgadis. After all, he's far more stable than most of my traveling companions. But there's something about it this time. Something I just can't quite put my finger on. He's never been so lost in thought that he'd walked completely off the road, or been unaware of us calling to him_. She found it extremely disturbing, and couldn't begin to figure out what was bothering him. Nothing unusual had happened lately to set him off…

She found Zelgadis in the center of town, a lone and pale figure seated on a bench beside a stone fountain. For a moment, she paused. He looked unusually melancholy, even more so now than this afternoon when he had walked off of the road and into the bushes. She approached with careful deliberate noise, knowing full well how sharp and fast his reflexes were. He was part mazoku, after all, and that made him faster and stronger than she was. If he wasn't paying attention, she might startle him into a reaction that neither of them desired. "Um… Zel…?"

When he didn't answer, she took it to mean he either didn't care that she was there, or that he didn't mind her presence. So, thusly uninvited but not refused, she walked over and sat on the bench beside him. A few uneasy moments passed, in which she waited for him to say something, anything. Finally it became clear to her that if she wanted a conversation, she was going to have to start it herself and drag the rest of it out of him whether he liked it or not. She guessed it would be the latter. _He's in another one of Those Moods it would seem… great. Just what I need. Him in a mood, and me trying to play counselor._ She took a deep breath and talked herself through it. _Okay, Lina. You've never been good at this type of thing, but you've got to give it the best you've got. Amelia's counting on you… and who knows, Zelgadis may be too_. Looking across the street at a darkened store, she started to talk quietly.

"Look, Zel… it's pretty clear that something is bothering you. I mean, even Gourry knows something's wrong, though he's too much of a jellyfish to figure it out. Thing of it is Zel; I'm having a hard time figuring out what's wrong myself. If it's Amelia, you don't have to worry about her anymore, she knows that she isn't what you need, or probably even want, what with her being royalty and all…" He still hadn't acknowledged her. "Zel…? Are you listening…?"

She leaned forwards, looking to him, trying to catch his eye. When she did, her blood ran cold through her veins.

His eyes were those of a lost soul from which consciousness has fled.

  



	2. Slayers True: Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

There, But For a Friend, Go I

"Zelgadis! Answer me! Zelgadis!!" Lina grabbed his face, turning it towards her. Not a single glimmer of awareness shimmered in those haunted crystal blue eyes. His skin was cold; he'd been outside for quite some time in the cool night.

"Light of all Lights, grant thy power to my hand!" A sphere of brilliance burst into Lina's hand, then spun out to cascade over Zelgadis.

It was one of the healing spells that Lina knew, and while wasn't the strongest, usually handled well whatever she had managed to do to herself.

Unfortunately, it had very little effect on Zelgadis.

_I can't just leave him out in the center of town like this! With a sigh, Lina stood and reached out to pull him up and carry him._

He was far heavier than she could have expected. "Ugh!" She staggered a bit, then caught her balance and looked at him. "I keep forgetting that you're made of rock… oh well… Levitation!"

She floated him easily alongside her, re-entering the hotel and ignoring the stare of the desk clerk as she walked past with Zelgadis hanging in the air beside her. As she walked past Amelia's room, she knocked on the door. "Wake up, Amelia. We've got trouble."

She floated Zelgadis into his room and set him on the bed in time for a sleepy Amelia to wander in rubbing her eyes.

"Miss Lina, don't you know that we've only had a few hours of sleep..?" She opened her eyes fully and saw Lina dismiss the spell around Zelgadis. "Oh no! What happened?!"

Lina shook her head. "I don't know, Amelia. I went to talk to him and found him in the center of town like this. I tried a healing spell… but it didn't have any effect."

Amelia padded over, her slippers flipping against her heels with soft slaps. Peering at him, she considered for a moment. "I think he's trapped in thought."

Lina looked to her. "Trapped? How can that be?" She looked back to Zelgadis.

Amelia cast something under her breath, watching his face intently. "He's definitely still with us… but something is keeping him from being able to come back to himself. He's… in the Astral Plane… and I can't get to him."

"Can you send me to him?" Lina asked, crimson eyes intently fixed on the open and vacant crystalline eyes.

Amelia bit her lip and nodded. "It's extremely dangerous… and I don't know what you'll find when you cross over. I don't really recommend it…"

"We don't really have a choice, Amelia. Somebody's got to help Zelgadis, and we're the only two who can," Lina said.

"I know… Here… sit in that chair and try not think of anything but helping Mister Zelgadis…" Amelia said, pointing. 

Lina dragged the chair over to the bedside and sat, looking at Zelgadis quietly. "I'm ready, Amelia."

Amelia sighed and set one hand on Zelgadis' arm and her other hand on Lina's arm. "Infinite power, the Light of the Spirit… I call upon thee in our time of need. Heed my call and open the door to the Astral Plane!"

There was no visible shift, no change that a passer-by would register. However, to Amelia's senses, a great gate swirled within the ether of the Astral Plane and settled around Lina.

Lina, focused entirely on Zelgadis, didn't even notice the shift until she suddenly found herself Somewhere Else.

Lina looked around, trying to orient herself and discover where she was. She didn't recognize the town, but then she hadn't visited everywhere yet. As she wandered, she saw some shopping stalls ahead, and approached them. As she did so, a familiar voice touched her ears.

"I wish to place an order with you. I want the strongest and sharpest dagger that you can get. Money is no concern. I will give you double your asking price if you have it tomorrow."

Zelgadis! She ran over, catching him by the arm and turning him around. "Zelgadis! It's me. You can come back now."

He pulled his wrist easily from her grip. "I do not know who you are, or what you want, but I do know that I have no business with you."

Lina stared, then ran after him again, confused. "But… Zelgadis? Don't you recognize me? Don't you know who I am?"

"No. I do not know. I am not interested, either. It would be better for you if you turned and walked away." He replied, continuing to walk away. 

"Zel… it's Lina. Don't you remember?" She laid her hand on his arm, using his inertia and her weight to pull him around so that he had to face her, or fall.

Something echoed in his eyes, a pain far deeper than she had ever seen within his eyes before. He frowned, then grabbed her hand, recognition over-writing the pain that she saw there. "Lina…I…"

He was shifting, turning intangible under her grasp. She could feel a spell working to take him away again. "Zelgadis!" She gasped, trying to keep her hold on him. If she let go, she might not find him again.

He faded from her sight and touch, leaving her alone in a sudden gray nothingness. "Damnit!" She cursed in frustration, looking around. _Okay… now what? But I could have sworn his lips said, "Help me" as he vanished. _

Back in the hotel room, Amelia frowned, waiting. She wasn't privy to what was happening, but Lina's frustrated expression was a clear indicator that something wasn't right. Fretting, she did the only thing she truly could do: waited. 

Lina sighed, looking out over the rocky terrain that had suddenly sprung up around her. What was going on here? "Hello…?" She walked uncertainly towards the nearby cave, calling out as she did so.

"What do you want?" Came an answer from the cave. He didn't sound pleased that she was there, but oh well. Lina wasn't about to back off. Zelgadis was her friend, and it was all too apparent that he was in trouble. And Trouble was one of Lina's middle names.

"Zelgadis? Is that you?" She called, running towards the cave. It was dark when she stuck her head in, and she could barely make out the outline of his figure in the center of the rock room.

"Who are you? Why are you bothering me?" He answered, his voice devoid of emotion. It reminded Lina of the first time she had heard his voice in the hotel when she had the orihalcon statue with the Philosopher's Stone in it.

"It's me, Zelgadis. It's Lina," she said, stepping closer to the center of the room. She still couldn't see anything inside, but she could hear where he was.

"I don't know anyone by that name. Now go away. I'm busy," he replied curtly.

Lina wasn't about to give up that easily. No way. "Zel… what's wrong? What are you…" Her eyes finally adjusted, and she saw him sitting there in the center of the room, broken bits of metal scattered about him like the remnants of some small explosion. A dagger was in his hand, and the point of the blade was resting against his chest. _Oh no… what have I walked into? He's trying to kill himself, but doesn't he remember that a normal blade won't work? Lina thought. Holding her voice steady and trying to hide the anxiety that she felt, she asked: "What are you doing, Zelgadis?"_

"Did Rezo send you? You can tell him what I am doing, if you want. Now go away." He turned his attention back to the blade and began to cast a fireball spell.

Lina rushed towards him, uncaring for the moment about anything other than saving his life, an irrational fear striking that the spell he was casting on the dagger would somehow pierce his stone skin. "Zel… you can't! Please, come back!" She grabbed his hand, yanking the dagger free and breaking the spell he was casting. The dagger skittered away on the floor.

With his free hand, he caught her easily and with almost a careless effort, pushed her back and away, cursing as he lunged after the dagger. He wasn't aware of the strength he used, but heard the bones break, and turned to see dispassionately the blood forced from her mouth as she hit the far wall with a gasp.

The chair pushed backwards, Lina coughing involuntarily, blood landing in her lap. Amelia screamed and Gourry was instantly in the door with his sword drawn.

"Amelia! What's going on in here?"

Amelia looked to Gourry, then back to Lina. It was clear that something had happened so strongly that it had crossed the boundary of the Astral and entered the Physical. But what…? She couldn't cast healing on Lina – if she did, the Astral Transference spell would be broken. But if she didn't do something…


	3. Slayers True: Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

A Friend in Need…

Lina's vision cleared from the white brilliance that had flared across her and she picked herself up off of the floor, mentally counting broken ribs. Well, she had a few left intact. Was this some sort of left over spell of Rezo's? "What... what are you trying to prove, Zelgadis?"

He looked over, annoyed at both the dagger's refusal to injure him, and her refusal to go away. "I am proving nothing except for the fact that if you stay, your life may be in danger."

She coughed more blood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, ignoring the pain and the metallic taste in her mouth. "Danger? I'm used to that, Zelgadis. You of all people ought to know." _It's like he's an enemy again. There's something wild in his eyes and I can't figure it out. Almost… almost… She moved closer to him, trying to lay her hand on him again. It had come so close to working the last time._

He reached out, grabbing her by the wrist and sending her back into the wall again. More ribs cracked and she doubled over against the pain. _I don't know what's happened to him… this is so unlike him… he's different now… It suddenly hit her_. Now. But what about then? What about before I met him? What was he like? Is he caught, trapped into a memory and unaware that I am trying to help him?_ His eyes had changed in the bazaar, for a moment they hadn't been the cold crystal eyes she saw now. Surely they would change again._

The pain clouded her mind, but she felt herself rallying, standing, felt the second wave of strength enter her awareness. Her mind cleared, and she looked at him. "Don't you know that a simple blade won't hurt you, Zelgadis? You need the Sword of Light, an enchanted blade to kill yourself with. If that's what you're after."

He glared at her. "What would you know?"

"Oh, one of my friends is like you." _If I can just get close to him…touch him… maybe I can break through this time. I saw his eyes change the last time. "Stone skin, wire hair…" She moved closer and closer to him. "Oh, he's not clumsy in anything but his emotions, but we like him just the same. He's really kind of private, and he's got a great laugh…" Her hand closed on his. "And he went away somewhere and we just want him to come back."_

Something flickered within the crystalline eyes, then faded. "Let go of me."

"No, Zelgadis. I've come to take you back home. Back to your friends, where you belong. Not stuck in this place of misery… this…" It hit her suddenly, the newfound energy weakening, fading away. Walking towards him without showing pain had torn the energy from her. "This nightmarish memory."

He tossed his hand out, throwing her across the room again. "Enough!"

Amelia watched as Zelgadis lay motionless on the bed. Suddenly, Lina fell out of her chair, blood spilling from her open mouth. Her breath rattled in her chest, and Amelia knew for certain that something was horribly wrong. She'd have to cast something soon, or…

Gourry burst into the room itself now, heading to grab Lina and try to protect her. "Lina!" 

Amelia got in his way. "I'm sorry, Mister Gourry, but there's nothing we can do right now. Miss Lina is trying to help Mister Zelgadis and if we interrupt her…" Her eyes narrowed, voice going firm. "So you'll just have to stand guard at the door and make sure no-one comes in to bother Miss Lina."

Gourry blinked a couple of times, then nodded. If standing at the door would help Lina… then he'd stand at the door. He didn't understand it, and he certainly didn't like it… but he'd stand at the door.

She landed hard, inches away from the wall. Pain flared red within her eyes and she heard her breath rattle. She'd have to do something soon or she'd get sent back to the physical world without him, if she made it back at all. If she died in her Astral form… _Stop thinking about that! "Zelgadis… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what Rezo… did to you. And I'm sorry we haven't found a cure. Just… come back…"_

Lina. Lina Inverse. And Amelia. Gourry. Something in her voice cracked the remaining thread of spell cast around his mind, and he dropped the dagger, running to her side, a sick feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. "Lina! What have I done? Damnit, Lina!"

Crimson eyes opened as he cradled her into his arms. "Don't… worry, Zel… you're back, right? I'll be… okay…" Her eyes slid closed as he gathered the web of spells around himself and followed the path back to his physical body.

He opened his eyes with a gasp and looked over to see Amelia crouched beside Lina on the floor, looking to him. Moving to the fallen sorceress' side, he cursed himself. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He simply hadn't known… damnit! He'd used so much power against her that the injuries transferred into the physical world. _Damn you, Rezo. I refuse to let your power be the cause of one of my friends' death!_

"Mister… Zelgadis…?" Amelia asked nervously. He looked angrier than she had ever seen the normally calm Chimera. In the back of her mind, she saw the brilliant anger flashing in his eyes and wondered what had happened. _Did Miss Lina do something to upset him? She's awfully injured, and I'm not certain that anything that I can cast anything that can remotely heal her…_ That spark that she saw in his eyes… what did it mean? She could swear that for a moment, just the briefest of instants, when he had opened his eyes and looked at her, that he was expecting someone else to be leaning over him. And that there was an un-acted upon intention. But he had covered, blinking quickly to conceal that emotion and replacing it with a brilliant anger at the sight of Lina's injured and unconscious form.

"She broke the last of an old spell that Rezo once used to control me through fear. But what I did to her in the process…" Zelgadis said quietly, forcing himself to calm down while trying to ascertain the damage that he had done to Lina.

Gourry had been silent until now, cowed into standing at the door by Amelia's order. "Man… if only Sylphiel were here. She'd be able to help."

"Light of all Lights, grant thy power to my hand!" Amelia cast, unaware that it was the very same spell that Lina had earlier cast on Zelgadis. The brilliance shimmered over Lina, beginning to knit broken bones and partially healing the wounds caused by transference from the Astral Plane.

But still, Lina's eyes did not open.

"Damnit, Lina!" Zelgadis burst. "The spell was aimed at me, not you! Let go of it!"

"What do you mean, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked, looking at him with wide eyes. She'd never seen him like this. Maybe she was right. Maybe he did like Lina…_maybe that's what I saw in his eyes! Maybe she did something in the Astral Plane and he wanted… it looked like, for a moment, he wanted to kiss someone. Was it… Miss Lina?_

"Rezo laid a trap within my mind, a spell that would lock me into memories and force me to relive my youth. Over the years, I've been working on breaking it… but this last time it backfired. I got caught up in the inner working of the spell, and I fear that Lina has as well."

"Oh no…! That can't be! Miss Lina…" Amelia said softly. _He's not telling me everything. I don't blame him…_

"It's okay… I'm okay…" Lina muttered, wincing and opening her eyes. Her gaze shifted from Amelia to Zelgadis and something flickered within her eyes for a moment before she sat up and rubbed her neck. "Oof…"

"Are you certain, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked, resting her hand on Lina's shoulder.

Lina nodded, yawning. "Though I'll admit to being worn out now. I think I need to get at least some sleep tonight." She stood, forced herself to keep from wobbling by sheer will alone, and walked to the door. "You too, Gourry."

The door shut behind her, and her three companions looked at each other, millions of questions appeared in the three pairs of eyes, but not a one of them dared utter a word.

"Um… Mister Zelgadis… are you going to be okay?" Amelia asked, finally breaking the silence and looking to him with concern.

"I… will be fine with rest. You two should rest as well," was his reply as he stood and walked back to the bed. For some reason he was drained of almost every ounce of energy he had. Something tickled at the back of his mind, as if there was something he ought to remember, or ought to know… but it was beyond him at the moment. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and mind to the world and the thought that he would have to look Lina in the eyes in the morning.

Gourry turned silently and walked into his room, largely confused, a wholly natural state of mind for the blonde swordsman. Amelia nodded, and suddenly finding herself alone with Zelgadis in his room, blushed, stammered, and fled for the sanctity of her own room.

Inside her room, Lina managed to unclasp her cloak and waist-belt before she allowed herself to collapse onto the bed. She wasn't about to let them know how exhausting it had been, how emotionally draining the memories she had been exposed to were.

How much better she understood her chimera companion. But how could she tell him what she had seen? Tell him that she understood now?

She then sank into an exhausted trance. Time enough to deal with it when she was less exhausted and more awake. But first… healing.

Zelgadis lay in his bed, contemplating what had happened. His mind was exhausted, yet something was keeping him awake. It was all too clear that Lina had broken the spell that Rezo had woven around his memories, and he wondered what the cost had been to Lina. He wouldn't know until the morning. His cheeks burned at the thought of what he had done to her when she tried to help him. He'd have to apologize in the morning.


	4. Slayers True: Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Uncomfortable Understanding

The morning brought the little group together at a nearby restaurant. Lina and Gourry fussed over all the food as usual, nothing seemed anything out of the ordinary. Zelgadis enjoyed his tea and ate only sparingly, and Amelia ate with the dignity of a princess.

It was your standard breakfast.

After breakfast was over, Lina looked over to Zelgadis. "How are you feeling, Zel? You gave us a good scare last night."

Zelgadis blushed faintly, then looked off to the doorway. "I'm fine."

Amelia set her fork aside and looked at Lina. "How are you, Miss Lina?"

Lina pushed her chair back from the table and stood. "Me? I'm just fine, Amelia. Your healing spells are getting more powerful. I don't feel a thing anymore."

_Anymore. Which means that what I did to her in the Astral Plane… Zelgadis brooded quietly. __She must still have hurt even after Amelia cast the healing spell. She looks tired… was she awake all night healing herself?_

Lina looked over to Zelgadis, for a moment considering something, then she rested her hands on her hips. "Well? Are we all going to sit around doing nothing? There's treasure and a cure to be found!"

The little group gathered themselves up and headed out for more parts unknown.

As they walked out of the small town, Amelia gave Lina one of those Looks, and Lina sighed. There he was again, lost in his thoughts, walking along on automatic. _Fine. Looks like it's as good a time as ever..._

Her soft question broke the train of thought, but he hadn't heard what she asked. "What?" He asked, looking to her.

"I said, are you feeling okay, Zelgadis?" Lina asked softly, eyes averted. She didn't really want everyone else hearing this, but then she noticed Amelia happily chattering away at Gourry. Bless Amelia. _But… If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Amelia was trying to pair me up with Zelgadis. Not that I don't like him… but I respect his privacy too much and I'd hate to upset him._

He looked at her for a moment, then turned his gaze away and continued walking. "I'm fine." She wouldn't look at him. He suppressed the intense shame at what he had done and tried to keep an even pace with Amelia and Gourry. _Those two act like they have no cares in the world, he thought. __Happily chatting away, blissful of everything that goes wrong in this world._

_I'm losing him! Lina thought frantically, biting her lip. __Now what do I do? I'm no good at this! It's easier to talk to Gourry; you just hit him over the head enough times and he gets the clue. But Zelgadis…_

"Did you sleep any last night, Lina?" His voice and the sudden question startled her. She looked up to see him looking at her intently, those crystalline eyes unfathomable and clearly guarded.

"I… a little," she admitted weakly, looking down as she continued to walk. True, she had slept some, but she had spent most of the night in an exhausted semblance of a healing trance.

She came to a sudden halt as Zelgadis' fingers touched her chin, lifting her face to make her look at him. "Lina… I am sorry for what happened. Had I been aware of what was happening, I would not have injured you."

She reached up and gave his hand a slight squeeze as she managed a smile before lightly giving his hand a push away. "Really, it's fine, Zel. I knew the risks when I crossed into the Astral Plane_." He touched me. In all this time, he's never touched me unless it was necessary. _

"Is my laugh truly that great, Lina…?" Zelgadis' voice drifted softly to her ears as he walked past her, to join the other two who were only a few yards ahead.

She froze, blushing, rooted to the spot for a moment before stammering an incoherent reply and sulkingly stalking back to join the group.

Night fell on the travelers before they could reach a town, and they found a reasonable-sized clearing to pass the night. Lina got the fire started in her own fashion (a fireball of appropriate size) and they sat around the fire and rather just stared.

Amelia was doing her best to mentally accept that she wasn't a romantic interest for Zelgadis, and well, she was only fifteen… there was plenty of lifetime ahead for her to find just the right man. After all, her father liked Mister Zelgadis enough as one of Amelia's friends… but probably not as a potential son and ruler of Sailune.

Gourry considered. There were a lot of things that had happened lately, and he was only just getting used to not having the Sword of Light around. To tell the truth, he didn't feel quite like the guardian of the party anymore. Without the Sword, he was only a slightly-above-average swordsman. Not nearly as good as Zelgadis. But then, Zelgadis had an enchanted sword. He didn't. He sighed faintly and shifted position, looking out at the night sky, wondering where his sword was now.

Zelgadis was brooding. Granted, that was something that Zelgadis did often, and did well. It might have been something that he could pride himself in… if it wasn't that he was brooding over what he had done to Lina. Damn Rezo for casting that spell on him. But then again… if it hadn't been for Rezo casting that first spell… would he ever have met Lina? He looked across the fire, intense blue eyes falling on the redheaded sorceress. She'd blown the whole thing off, as was her usual response to anything involving any personal boundaries broken, but there was something in her eyes now whenever she looked at him. As if there was something left unspoken between the two. _What did that spell do to her? He wondered. __How much of herself did she sacrifice? My nightmares are gone… but are hers only beginning?_

Lina stared at the fire. Thoughts swirled in her mind, fragments of Zelgadis' memories, fragments of her own memories that Rezo's spell had pulled up. There was a truth in there somewhere… somewhere, there was a key to all of this. Why the spell called up only certain and almost countering memories within her to offset those that she has witnessed in Zelgadis' mind. His wanting to be strong, her being afraid of her own powers. His lack of family, her overabundance of Older Sister. His practicing from sheer force of will, her practicing by sheer force of Luna.

Shaking her head wearily, Lina rose and murmured a goodnight to the others by the fire. She walked over to her sleeping sack and curled up into it, eyes still open as she contemplated the fragments and tried to make them a whole. Eventually, sleep won out over contemplation, and she fell into a discoherent dream-filled sleep. 

"Excuse me."

She frowned slightly, but didn't wake.

"Um… will you please wake up?"

She turned over, muttering a bleary "Leave me alone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You're going to have to wake up. At least for a little while." The voice was gentle, but insistent.

Crimson eyes snapped open, and she sat up, pushing hair out of her eyes, looking for whoever had so rudely awoken her. "What?"

There was a young man with brown hair and eyes dressed entirely in blue kneeling beside her. He smiled politely and nodded. "Ah… you're awake. Good. I was instructed to give you this." His voice was soft, obviously intended for her ears alone, and not to wake the others.

He held out a largish leather pouch, offering it to her.

She reached up skeptically, eyes narrowing. "What is it?"

He bowed his head. "I am afraid that I was not informed as to the contents of the pouch. However, I was to tell you that the favor was well-received, and that this was owed you in return. I was ensured that you would do right by it."

"Favor was well-received…? Okay… I'll take it. Now go away and let me sleep," she said irritably. He woke her up just to return a favor? Some nerve. Just for that, she wouldn't open it until morning. She took the pouch and stuffed it beside her into the bag. Absently, she checked it to make sure that there was nothing explosive about it… and it felt clean. Felt familiar, but she was too tired and bothered about it to look now.

He lifted his head to offer another apologetic smile, his brown eyes meeting hers softly, then stood – and vanished into thin air.

"Eh… good riddance," she mumbled, rolling back over. After a few moments, she managed to fall back asleep, the dreams fading blissfully into nothingness.


	5. Slayers True: Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

An Unseen Departure

The morning dawned bright and cheerful, and Lina crawled out of her sleep sack, tugging the mystery pouch out along with her. She set it down beside the sack and began rolling things up when Amelia bounced cheerily up to her.

"Good morning, Miss Lina! I hope that you slept well?"

Lina barely refrained from glaring at Amelia. A cheery Amelia was the last thing she wanted to deal with this morning. "Amelia…" she stopped. "We had a visitor last night." It was easier to sidetrack Amelia than to justify herself. And telling Amelia about the visitor seemed the best way to distract her.

Amelia's eyes widened, and she blinked. "We did? But I don't remember anyone coming last night…"

"Rather, I did." Lina corrected. "Some young guy came by, good with magic. He brought me this pouch and said that it was a favor returned." She held up the pouch for Amelia to see. "I haven't opened it yet."

"But… why not, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked.

Lina made a face. "Because. I wasn't about to give that guy the pleasure of seeing me open it after he'd woken me up!" She didn't mention that she was privately glad that he had – the nightmare that she was having was far worse than simply being awoken by a stranger in the night.

"Oh…" Amelia said. "So are you going to open it now?" _Miss Lina's acting strangely. I wonder if she slept after her visitor. And why didn't I wake up? Why didn't my magic sense his arrival?_

Lina sighed, sitting on the rolled-up sleeping sack. "I guess…" She fingered the knot, feeling it loosen and fall open at her touch. _A magical knot. Probably so that only I could untie it, and no one else. What's in here?_ She tugged the pouch open, peering in. Whatever it was, it was wrapped in cloth.

She dumped the cloth bundle out into her lap, setting the pouch aside. One by one, layers of cloth fell off the oddly shaped item until…

Lina and Amelia both stared.

"Ano… Gourry? I… think you need to come over here…" Lina called out.

Gourry ambled over in his typical morning fashion, Zelgadis following with mild curiosity. He'd been aware of the intruder last night, but as the youth hadn't seemed inclined to battle, had settled to watch and let Lina deal with him. He had seen the pouch, but hadn't considered the contents.

Silently, Lina handed Gourry a thinly wrapped object. The blonde swordsman took it and turned it over in his hands for a moment before beginning to unwrap those final few layers.

Zelgadis arched an eyebrow as Gourry unwrapped it.

Then silence fell.

"My sword! Lina, where did you find my sword?!" Gourry held up the hilt of Golunova and held it out to admire it. Someone had cleaned it recently; the gems shone even more brilliantly than Gourry remembered. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought that Golunova was pleased to be in his care once more. But that was silly. Swords didn't have an awareness, did they?

"I didn't find it, Gourry. It was brought to me. He said it was a favor returned… and it makes sense now," Lina answered, standing up. "So now that that's over with, shall we get moving?" She knew that she was moving quicker than normal, but she felt the pull of magic and wanted to investigate. That, and she thought better while walking… and she needed to do a lot of thinking.

Gourry set his sword at his hip with boyish excitement and wandered back to grab up his belongings. "I'm sure hungry. Think we could find a town nearby? I need to get a blade, too…"

Lina stared at Gourry, then shook her head. "Honestly…"

Zelgadis mused for a moment. "Was that all that the visitor wanted last night, Lina?"

Lina looked up to Zelgadis, something flashing faintly within her eyes, then fading. "I… I think so. I don't recall giving him much of a chance to do anything else."

Amelia looked from Lina to Zelgadis. Something had happened, she was sure of it. But was it only that Lina had become so injured while trying to help Zelgadis? How did she get hurt anyway? _She didn't say how she'd come by those injuries… and I know that my healing didn't do all that much for her! She lied to make me look better than I had been, and to blow off her being hurt. But why?_ Amelia frowned slightly and decided it was safer to go finish getting ready to find a town. Asking anything of Miss Lina when she was already upset could have very bad after-effects.

It didn't take the little group much more time to get on the road. Gourry was insufferably cheerful, which seemed to drag Lina's normal grumpiness even further into sullen silence. Zelgadis wondered quietly at the cause of Lina's odd mood shift, and Amelia chattered happily to no one and everyone.

Lina suddenly dragged her feet, scowling at everyone and anyone. She dropped back and began moving slower than everyone else in the group. Accordingly, so did Zelgadis.

"You want to tell me what is bothering you?" He asked quietly, still looking ahead, taking care not to look at her directly. He fell to pacing her, a fairly unconscious move, gained from many days of walking along with someone. It made it easier to talk if he matched steps with them. It was natural for him.

She sighed. "I can't, Zelgadis. Not right now. I need to figure out what's bothering me first. There's too much to sort through." She answered at length, looking at her feet. _I can't do this… I can't do this…_

He reached out, entirely on a thread of hope, and touched her lightly on the arm. _She said that I was clumsy in my emotions… I should at least try._ "Lina… I…"

"Don't!" She yelled, yanking her arm out of his grasp and breaking free. "Just… don't! I don't need your pity!" She took off, running towards, then past the two who walked at the front of the little group, brushing past a startled Amelia, who turned around to see a crestfallen Zelgadis move quickly to cover his emotions back behind his normal stony mask. He'd been a fool, he decided. How could he have thought that she'd want his company? _When we reach the town, I'm taking my leave. _He decided. Somehow it made him all the sadder and he couldn't decide why.

Amelia sighed and shook her head, turning back. _I was right. Mister Zelgadis does care for Miss Lina. But something happened the other night… and it's obviously upset Miss Lina. And Mister Zelgadis. But what can I do to help either one of them?_

Gourry had no clues, himself. Lina must have slept poorly. She sometimes got that way. But he had his sword back. That made him happy. And she'd gotten it back for him. Lina sure was swell.

Lina sighed, ending her pell-mell run up the trail and started to walk again, catching her breath and her emotions. _You idiot. He only meant to let you know that you weren't alone._ She ranted at herself. _And now you've probably hurt him, but how can I tell him that I know? I know how he grew up, I know how it felt to turn into stone?_ Just as she was ready to turn around and apologize, she saw the town.

Sure enough, there was something very old and powerful around here. Just the kind of place that you'd find bits of the Claire Bible or older. It reached out and pulled her towards the town, encompassing her spirit with the promise of ancient magics and treasures.

When she got to the outskirts of the town, she turned around to wait, surprised that she had gotten so far ahead of the rest of them. She hadn't been aware of how fast she had been moving, nor could she recall how she had traveled. Had she walked? Run? Used a Ray Wing spell?

Only Amelia and Gourry walked up, and by the look on Amelia's face, something was wrong. "Amelia, where's Zelgadis?" Lina asked her, knowing what had probably occurred, but needing to ask. 

"Um… Miss Lina… Mister Zelgadis said that we were to go on without him. He said that he was looking for something else," Amelia cringed. She didn't understand what was going on, and it was clear that Zelgadis wasn't happy, and now neither was Lina. This could have a devastating affect on Amelia, as Lina was well known for shooting the messenger first and asking questions later. She could only hope for the best and maybe Miss Lina wouldn't be too upset with her. She'd tried to talk him into at least telling Lina goodbye, but the expression on his face… she had never seen him so… distant.

Lina looked past Amelia to a grouping of trees that she was certain that Zelgadis was hiding within. She shook her head and turned away, leading the way quietly into town. "Come on. He's done this before. If we see him again, we see him again. That's how it goes." Her voice was distant to her ears, and her sight was blurred slightly. _Get over it. You caused this, Lina Inverse. You're the one who pushed him away. 'You push, you pull, one day you'll break something and you'll never get it back, Lina.' Luna used to say that to me all the time. I should have listened to her more often. _She turned away carefully careless and kept on walking, not looking back to see if the others were following her.

Silently, the trio entered the town.


	6. Slayers True: Chapter 6

Chapter Six

To Find A Friend

Midnight came and went in the small town, the trio having had settled into their rooms and turned in for the night. Gourry had fallen asleep immediately, and Amelia had tossed for a few minutes before she too fell asleep. In the end, only Lina lay awake in her bed, staring out past the ceiling and into her mind's eye.

She had to go find him. What was she doing lying here in the bed when she'd hurt her friend and she needed to go find him and set things right? She needed to tell him. Tell him all of it and maybe he'd understand. She certainly understood now.

She rose from the bed and dressed quickly, fragments of his past still stirring within her mind. Some of them were frighteningly dark, and she wondered at how he'd managed to stay on the lighter side of Shamanism. Maybe she could ask him…

The door to the inn closed quietly behind her and she stepped out into the cool night air. It was a crisp and clear night, and she drew her cloak a little tighter around herself. They were a good deal farther north than they usually liked to travel, but the promise of magic that hung in the air was worth the inconvenient chill.

She cast about for a moment, but she knew that he was adept at hiding when he did not wish to be found. So, taking a small medallion from her pocket, she cupped it in her hands and chanted. "You who sail the seas of the Astral Plane.Reveal these shadows to me."

Nothing happened. _Damn! He's blocking me from revealing him on the Astral Plane!_ With a sigh and a shrug, she pocketed the medallion and headed out towards the trees where she had sensed him hours before. _He's underestimated me again. I intend to find him and that's that. He's my friend. He's…_ She wouldn't allow herself to think that right now. She had to find him and apologize first.

She approached the cove of trees, memory after memory washing over her.

He'd had no family, almost all of them were gone before he was born – his father not yet dead two days by the plague, his mother dead from the childbirth of her son. It was clear by his reluctance to be born that he was a child who did not wish to involve himself with the plague which held the city in its grip.

But he'd been born healthy, the only such child for months. They had soon found that the child's own magic had rebelled against illness, and after the first critical week of life, they decided that he would live and would therefore need a name. But what to name the infant?

"His name is Zelgadis," a voice had interrupted.

The midwife and doctor turned to see Rezo the Red Priest standing in the doorway. Word of the plague had brought the Priest, but he had been too late to save his family. Only the infant was left now. The loss was tragic and devastating. 

With no further words, Rezo had cleansed the town, buried his family, and had taken the infant away with him, leaving a broken town to heal its wounds and restore its heritage alone.

  


Lina staggered, leaning against a tree. The memories were becoming stronger, threatening her very perception of the world around her versus the world within her mind. She took another step, gripping the tree for a physical link to the world of reality and stumbled.

He'd tried to poison himself once. He'd gone and purchased a poison that only the highest of assassins used on targets that were contracted to die immediately and with very little awareness of what had happened. It was extremely expensive, easily three times the standard street price, and yet he had bought all that the little man would admit to owning. He had taken it all; ten full doses designed for a man twice his size. He'd fallen down into the dullness of the mind, thinking that at last he would be free. 

When he awoke in his room, Rezo's men were laughing that he'd finally gotten drunk. It was insulting. Once again, his magic had refused to grant him release. There was a reason that he was to live.

Lina faltered, her focus on the physical world starting to fade into the memory world in her mind. No! She needed to find Zelgadis! Needed to explain, to apologize…

Her lips moved, her voice faint as the bark on the tree crumbled and she fell to the forest floor.

"Zelgadis…"

She stepped into a darkened room, eyes adjusting to the small candle-lit entryway. There was a raised stone platform along the far wall, very much like a ceremonial funeral ledge. Who had died?

Candles lit the narrow path to the ledge and she walked reverently, as she knew she ought. As she approached the ledge, she saw who was on it and immediately lost coherent thought.

"No. Oh no. No! You're… no. You can't be dead! You can't be! You were just with us this morning! You touched my arm! This isn't right! I have to apologize…" She closed her eyes to fight back the tears.

"Will you please be quiet?"

His voice snapped her into sudden and shocked silence.

"You aren't dead?" She asked dumbly, her eyes opening to look to his closed ones.

"No. And it's very hard to meditate with you babbling there." He still hadn't opened his eyes. "So please be polite enough to go away and leave me alone."

"I… I came to apologize, Zel… we… we need to talk." Lina pressed.

One sapphire eye opened and looked at her. "Do we? Do I know you?"

_Oh no… I've fallen into the spell again! What do I do? I've gotta buy myself time to break it again! Think fast…_ "No… but I've been on the same search you have, and I'm afraid that I may have gotten in your way."

The other eye opened now, the chimera who was and was not her Zelgadis was lifting his head. "What do you mean, search?"

"For a… cure." Lina lied. She had no idea if that's what he had been doing, but it was worth a shot.

He sat now, looking at her. "A cure." Something passed across his eyes and he looked harder at her. "You're that girl! That girl from before! You— I didn't kill you? In the cave?"

Lina blinked, startled. _So… there's a link to all of this. He remembers me from when Amelia cast the Astral Transference spell._ "Um… no. I can heal, you see… and you don't have to apologize…"

"I wasn't going to apologize. You shouldn't have bothered me."

Lina flushed a deep red, fighting her temper. _Man, he needs to work on his social skills!! But then… I don't think he had many until we met…_ "You're right. And I probably shouldn't be bothering you now. Maybe I should just go on and…" She turned away, heading for the door.

"Wait. Why are you looking for a cure for my… condition?" It sounded like it was breaking his teeth to refer to it as such.

"I have a friend who got turned into a chimera. He doesn't particularly care for it… so he's looking for a cure. We haven't found any yet, and it's been a couple of years now… but it doesn't mean that I'm going to stop trying." She replied. She wasn't lying now. There was too much emotion in her voice, and she knew it.

"I see. You care for your friend, then? This… chimera?" His voice was neutral.

She looked away. _Man! Am I that see-through? Or is he just more observant that I gave him credit for? Is Zelgadis like that outside of the spell, or is the spell weaving him differently?_ "I…" She sighed. "Probably more so than I ought to. There's another girl in our group who really liked him, and I thought they'd be better suited, but she's a princess and a lot younger than he is… and she told me that she couldn't be what he needed, that royal life is far from private. So she wasn't going to try to be anything more than his friend. And there's been a lot happening lately, and… why am I telling you this? You probably don't want to know all the sordid details. Sorry about that…" She glanced at him, surprised to see his wistful expression. "Did I… say something wrong?" _Great, Lina. All you can do is upset him!_

The emotionless mask slid over his face again, and he lay back down on the ledge. "Your friend is a very lucky person. Go back to him. This is no place for you to be. Perhaps our paths will cross again and I will get to meet him."

Lina blushed, turning to the door and biting her lip. "See you around, then…" _That person is you, Zel. And if I manage to break this spell… maybe I'll tell you. Maybe._

She exited the room and looked around. There had to be a reason for the spell. But what was it, and how could she fix it? What lay at the heart of the spell, the key to the undoing and release of her friend's memories? She wasn't even certain that he remembered these things that she saw, interacted with, and sometimes even managed to take control of. Some of it might seem like a dream or a nightmare… but how much of it was really true?

Wandering out, she started looking around to figure out where she was. It looked familiar… like she'd been there before… She stepped out of the hallway, and with a jolt, she realized where she was. _I'm in Rezo's Tower! Was that… Zelgadis' room? And where's Rezo? I'll bet he can answer why I'm here. That's it, Rezo. I'm getting to the bottom of this spell if it kills me._

She lifted off the ground and headed up towards Rezo's hall. 


	7. Slayers True: Chapter 7

# Chapter 7

Step Off the Edge…

Zelgadis awoke with a start, eyes snapping open to the clear cold sky above him. He'd had a very strange dream. He'd been in his room back in the Tower and Lina had been there. Only… he hadn't known her, hadn't known who she was at all. He couldn't remember anything else… he knew that they had been talking, but he didn't know what about.

It was still night, and he sat up and looked around. It was just too quiet. There wasn't any snoring. He'd gotten used to Gourry's snoring and suddenly found the silence grating. He'd have to get used to being alone all over again. He didn't particularly care for being alone, didn't like the solitude, but what else was there for him? He was cursed to be an aberration of Nature, and therefore shunned by the vast majority of the people he had met. He could name a handful of people who hadn't judged him immediately, and sadly, some of them were gone. _Xolf, Rodimus, lives tossed away because of what I am. If not for Rezo and myself, they'd still be alive._ It made him hate the blue stone of his skin all the more.

He climbed down out of the tree and decided to make use of the time by exploring the nearby ruins. That way, he could be through them before the others came, and would avoid any… embarrassing encounters. He could be through the ruins and off to the next town before Lina's little group got out of bed. There were some merits to traveling alone. He could keep his own hours, his own schedule. But the freedom came with the price of not having anyone around to talk to, to bounce ideas around with… to… _Stop it, Zelgadis. You made your choice. Besides, it's better being alone. You get into less trouble that way, and life becomes more peaceful. True, the spark and excitement aren't there, but at least I'm not getting tossed into jails or bombed by overly zealous gunpowder carrying people. Best to get on my way now…_

When he got to the bottom of the tree, he turned and came to a sudden halt. At the foot of the tree across from him was Lina Inverse. She was sprawled out on the ground, and he wondered if she had been injured. _She must have come out looking for me and tripped and fallen. She doesn't give up easily, I'll grant her that. But why hasn't she gotten back up?She looks awfully still…_ "Lina?" He knelt beside her, frowning slightly as she didn't answer.

"Lina."

She didn't move, didn't so much as twitch when he put his hand on her cheek to wake her. Sensing that something wasn't entirely right, he opened his mind to the mage-sight and looked at her.

Lina had always had an aura of formidable power around her when he looked at her with mage-sight. Until now. Now there was nothing, not even a flicker of the basic magic of life. It was as if she wasn't even there in front of him.

Horrified, and without bothering to transition his sight gradually back, he blinked back into real-sight and checked for Lina's pulse and breath. Both were very shallow but there. It wasn't heartening. Something was amiss, and he'd place his bets on it being that spell that she had somehow diverted to herself, away from him. She always tried to take on things for her friends… had she taken on something that was too big for her this time?

He picked her up and began to move towards the town. It wouldn't do to have her out in the forests like this. He had to get her to that hotel and safely out of the way of prying eyes. Then he had to figure out what was going on. She wasn't telling him something earlier, and he was going to have to find out the hard way now. It was time to step into the Astral Plane on his own and see what Lina was fighting with his own Self.

It was a small town with only one hotel and he slipped into the hotel with her in his arms, careful not to let the night clerk see them. It wasn't hard to wait a few moments until the clerk had turned, then slip around the corner. From there, he only had to worry about the other guests. But other guests would cause less of a scene than the hotel employee. Other guests would probably think that Lina had simply fallen asleep somewhere, and he was bringing her back to the hotel room. Searching out her room could be more difficult, unless… yes. She had left her ward 'glowing' at the door.

At the door to her room, he paused for a moment, uneasy at entering her room for some reason. What was wrong with him? Was it the presence of her ward? No, it must be the spell of Rezo's. He hadn't felt… rightly himself since the spell first caught him and pulled him into the maze of memories that he still wasn't sure were real. Pushing the door open, he stuffed any thought not related to helping Lina aside and entered the room.

He laid her on the bed, brushing the dirt out of her hair and sitting beside the bed. Resting a hand on her arm, it was a simple act of his will to transfer himself into the Astral Plane and orient on her. He was far better at it than Amelia. He'd had far more practice. His specialties were the Astral magics, and he was counting on them now.

Images, memories buffeted him, like a river swelling through the Astral Plane that was made entirely of his own life. It was out of control, out of phase, chaotic and uncontained. He was caught by it, dragged away from her, dragged away from everything that he knew. Nothing was smooth, the feel of the Astral Plane far more warped and wrenched than he had ever experienced. If this was what a Ra Tilt felt like on the receiving end, well, he could almost feel sorry for whatever foe he cast it upon. But even the Ra Tilt had form and structure to it. This felt like the Astral Body of Chaos gone shapeless and wild.

Panic started to rise; this was nothing he'd ever encountered in the Astral Plane before. Always before there had been a clear path and a certain calm that was associated with Astral Traveling. The silver thread that bound his spirit to his body had been thin, but strong. Now, with the chaos thus unleashed, the silver thread was becoming tangled, confused. He wasn't sure how to re-orient himself and get back to the real world. A moment of breathless fear swallowed him, and then he was suddenly thrown back into his body with a solid thud.

He caught his breath, opening his eyes to see Gourry standing there beside him, a hand on Zelgadis' shoulder. The blonde swordsman was fully dressed; eyes steady as he looked to Zelgadis. 

"Are you all right, Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis blinked, then nodded. "I think so." He looked over at Lina. "Something's dragging her back to the Astral Plane and it's not letting me get to her to help."

Gourry nodded. "I thought there was trouble. Lina left to go looking for you three hours ago. I was about to go looking for her when I saw the light on and you two were in here."

_That long ago…?_ Zelgadis thought. "I see. But I have to help her. I can't just leave her like that. Not when she helped me." He said, turning to Gourry.

The blonde swordsman nodded again. "If she stays on the Astral Plane too long, she'll die. A high level magic user like Lina can't survive on a purely spiritual plane. It would drain every fragment of magic that she had."

Zelgadis tried to keep his eyes from becoming too large. "Gourry? Are you simply quoting what you've heard Lina say?" The frightening thing is that Gourry had just explained why Zelgadis couldn't see Lina's mage-aura. _How long as she been Astral? How much time do I have left?_

Gourry shook his head. "Heck no. Not a lot of people can stay on the Astral Plane for longer than a few hours without having some after-effects. So you've got to go find her and bring her back before it's too late."

Somewhere in the back of Zelgadis' mind, a miniature Zelgadis fell over. Gourry understanding a situation? It was unheard of. He narrowed his eyes and looked hard at the blonde. "Are you absolutely certain that you are Gourry?"

Gourry glanced back at the door. "I'm Gourry Gabriev and I'll explain it all later. But right now, go help Lina. Take Golunova. It might just help you." He pushed the bladeless hilt into Zelgadis' hands and stood at the door. "I'm not letting anyone in here unless it's Amelia or somebody who can help. Get going."

Zelgadis was confused, but he didn't have the time to deal with it at the moment. Grabbing the hilt of Golunova, he cast the Astral Transference spell. "Infinite power, the Light of the Spirit… I call upon thee in my time of need. Heed my call and open the door to the Astral Plane!"

Gourry looked back to see Zelgadis slump over slightly in the chair. There was a good deal that he'd have to explain to the chimera, but the first priority was bringing Lina safely back. He owed Lina the greatest life-debt of them all… but only Zelgadis could actually do what was needed.

He could wait. 


	8. Slayers True: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In Search Of…

Zelgadis opened his eyes to the Astral Chaos that surrounded Lina's spirit. None of it made sense. Why was she the one caught up in the Chaos and not him? Turning his attention to the matter at hand, and dismissing his questions for the moment, he closed his eyes and stepped into the Chaos.

He 'landed' on his feet in front of a swirling mass of magic in the hallway. It was obviously designed to keep him out, and he headed into it, pushing his way through. Emotions and images from his youth clutched at him, pulling at his cloak and trying to tug him towards them.

He stood at the edge of the lake in despair. Nothing had worked to the end that he desired... yet. So there he was, all of seventeen years of age, and he was ready to throw himself into the water.

So, why wait? He headed into the water, knowing that he would sink, knowing that he couldn't swim, knowing that he would drown. His magic couldn't keep the water from doing its damage to his lungs. He knew this, and smiled as he pushed deeper into the water. It was almost to his nose now, and it granted him some strangely serene sensation. He was finally going to be released from this Hell that Rezo had cursed him to.

"Zelgadis. There you are," came Rezo's voice as he was unceremoniously and magically fished out of the water.

Resigned to his fate, Zelgadis looked to Rezo. The serenity hadn't faded, and he allowed the levitation spell to hold his lethargic form. "What?" He asked without emotion or care. After all, he wanted to die, yes? Maybe if he provoked Rezo enough…

"I have something for you to do. The Philosopher's Stone has resurfaced. I want you to find it for me. Xolf, Rodimus, and Dilgear are at your disposal. Do not fail me, Zelgadis," Rezo said, setting the dripping chimera on his feet.

The Philosopher's Stone. Maybe that would have the power to cure the curse. Bowing to Rezo and murmuring something appropriate to following commands, he considered. He'd look for the stone on his own, under the illusion that he was searching for it for Rezo.

Zelgadis blinked as he forced his way out of the memory, and back into the semi-reality of the Astral Plane. He had to find Lina. The past was the past.

Lina was all too aware that she was spending too long in the Astral Plane. She didn't allow herself to dwell on it, and instead pushed the heavy door open and stalked into the room, allowing her presence to announce her first.

There he was, sitting quietly in a chair by the fire.

Rezo, the Red Priest.

Barely restraining her temper, she levitated over to the Red Priest, landing just in front of him with a scowl. "Rezo."

There was no answer from the priest, and she reached out and touched his shoulder with a finger.

"You..." he whispered.

Lina glared at him, "Yeah, me. I'm here to make you release Zelgadis and myself from this spell."

"I cannot. I myself am a part of the spell… just as I am a part of Zelgadis," Rezo replied quietly, seeming to gaze into the fire through his closed eyes.

"What do you mean, you are a part of Zelgadis?" Lina asked with a glare, fully aware that he could see her, no matter what the condition of his eyes.

"The spell is rooted within him, an integral part of his very existence." Rezo said. "To destroy the spell…"

"Would destroy him…" Lina finished.

He wasn't getting anywhere in this miasma of thoughts and images from his past. He'd essentially come to a halt, fighting the mental pressure from the spell. Vaguely, he realized that he needed to free himself, needed to fight his way out of the trap that he'd so unguardedly put himself into. But he wasn't sure how. In desperation, he reached out, calling to anyone that might be listening. 

Suddenly there was a blaze of light within his hand, cutting cleanly through the swirling nightmare images.

Golunova.

The Sword of Light was having an effect on the spell. It was clearing away the madness that was on the edge of his mind, illuminating the tunnel and chasing the darkness away like a torch.

For a moment, Zelgadis wondered exactly how much of Golunova's power was holy. But at the moment, it didn't matter because it was buying both his sanity and his freedom. He'd ask Gourry about that later.

He brought the sword up, cutting away at the spell, enabling him to move forward, and begin to clear himself a path through the insanity.

Walking forwards resolutely, Zelgadis finally and completely freed himself, and took to a run down the hall that he now recognized as the hall that had led to Rezo's Chambers once upon a past.

The door burst open and Lina came flying out of Rezo's room at a dead run, literally running into Zelgadis- whose only option was to either catch her into an embrace, or be knocked down. He opted for the embrace without even thinking about it.

It happened so fast that she didn't know what had happened, and Lina stiffened suddenly as she realized that someone had caught her into a pair of strong arms. Before she could react, the grip lessened, gentling, and a familiar voice whispered her name.

"Lina…"

Zelgadis was holding her, the blind action shifting into something that Lina registered as an embrace, a… hug. And it didn't seem like he had any intentions of letting go anytime soon.

"Um… Zel…? What are you doing?" Lina asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.

He released her, only to grab her by the wrist and look at her hard. "It was either that, or be knocked over by you as you went by, We have to leave. Now. If we don't, you'll die."

She felt the magic build up around her, felt the pull of soul to body and found that she didn't have enough energy to fight him. Instead, she simply allowed herself to fall along the silver thread, the weight of reality bringing her back to form and physical awareness.

She opened her eyes to see the ceiling of her hotel room, and blinked as she turned her head to see Zelgadis sitting in the chair beside her with his head in his hands, as if nursing a massive headache. She continued to look around and saw Gourry turn in the doorway to make eye contact with her and smile.

"Hey, you're back!" The swordsman said as he moved away from the doorway.

Zelgadis lifted his head and looked over as Gourry headed towards them. With a reluctant and rather dry smile, he handed Golunova back to its rightful owner. "You were right. It helped."

"Good," Gourry answered, setting the hilt back at his hip. He looked to Lina, a strange fierceness creeping into his eyes. "Don't do that again. I thought you knew better than to go Astral for an extended period of time alone."

Lina stared. What the Hell just happened? Had she woken up within the spell again, because Gourry had not just chastised her for going Astral on her own. He had no clue what Astral Projection was… right? Even so, he was still right. And the only thing she had the strength to do about it right now was mutter bad-temperedly at him. "What do you know about it, Gourry? The last time I tried to explain Astral Projection to you, you fell asleep!"

"That's because you were oversimplifying it, Lina. It made me sleepy. And all that aside, you really should have told me or Amelia that you were going to do something dangerous," Gourry explained patiently.

"Gourry, I didn't know that anything was going to happen. I was halfway hanging on a tree when the spell caught me and tossed me into the Astral Plane," Lina protested weakly.

"Then you shouldn't be alone anymore," Gourry said, in a tone that didn't leave much room for argument.

Zelgadis shook his head. This was just too much for the over-tired chimera. He'd deal with it tomorrow. Standing, he walked towards the door, mumbling. "You two can argue about this all you want. I'm getting a room, and going to sleep."

Lina yawned as Zelgadis stepped out of her room, and she looked at Gourry. "I'll be fine. I'll figure all this out in the morning. I'm too tired to do anything else right now."

Gourry nodded, taking the chair and moving it to the door, sitting down and taking up watch. "See you in the morning, then." 

Lina was too tired to protest, and was asleep within a minute.


	9. Slayers True: Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Secrets Revealed**

Lina woke up with the headache to end all headaches. Naturally, this made her even more irritable than she normally would have been in the morning, but it didn't stop her from noticing that Gourry wasn't in the chair by the door anymore. Sitting up, she looked across the room in the early morning light through the

shutters and saw two blue eyes looking back at her from the shadow that had fallen by the door.

It was Zelgadis, having no doubt relieved Gourry sometime during the night. He simply nodded to her, the ghost of a smile flickering across his face before he turned to the door to allow her to get up and prepare for the morning.

"Hey… Zel…?" Lina asked quietly.

A small grouping of rocks that might pass as an eyebrow lifted as he turned back to look at her. "Yes, Lina?"

Lina picked at the blanket, looking down at it as he walked closer. Okay, Lina, get yourself together. You meant to tell him before he pulled his vanishing act, you went into the Astral and he came to fetch you… so why can't I get up the courage to say anything? She inhaled sharply, holding her breath as she drew up some courage.

Zelgadis stopped beside the bed, frowning slightly as he looked to her, hearing what he thought was a pained intake of breath. "Lina? Is something wrong?

She shook her head, closing her eyes and releasing her breath with very quiet and slow words. "No… I… about yesterday, Zel. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to snap at you."

He offered a half-smile to her, a gesture that she couldn't see. "I know. That's why you came out to find me last night, isn't it?"

Lina looked up at him. "Did you find me? I went out to the woods, to find you, and I remember falling, then I was caught in the spell."

He nodded. "You fell almost at the foot of the tree where I was sleeping. How did you find me, anyway? I was using a blocking spell…"

Lina dropped the corner of the blanket. "Zel… I know you. It's not like I'm a complete stranger. You've been sleeping in trees since you were old enough to climb them!" it hit her not three seconds after the words fell out of her mouth that there was no way she should have known that, and she clapped both hands over

her mouth.

He stared at her, uncertain if he should stay, or flee the now-incredibly awkward situation.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Let me explain!" Lina said, reaching out to grab the cuff of his sleeve. "Please… sit…?"

He sat slowly on the edge of the bed, looking at her with conflicting emotions. How could she know? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Lina sighed, took a deep breath, and plunged in. "Since that night I found you caught by the spell, I've been… seeing and sometimes even interacting with your memories, your past. I've climbed trees with you, learned spells with you- which has an interesting promise indeed, and I've…" her voice trailed off as she

looked to the closed shutters. "I know what it felt like when…" She turned to look at him, making eye contact as she whispered the last few words. "Rezo turned you into a chimera."

Silence fell in the room like a thick blanket, shock creeping unbidden into his wide, unguarded eyes.

She cringed in her mind, afraid that she had overstepped the friendship that existed between them. "Zel… I-"

He lifted a hand, stopping her in mid sentence, gaze still holding hers. "What else?" He asked. "What else do you know?" He looked at her, intensity filling his eyes with a strange desperation.

Lina blinked, looking at him. That certainly wasn't the reaction that she had seen coming. He was taking this almost too well. Um… have I fallen back into the spell again? She did a quick mental cast-about for signs of being in the Astral Plane, but found only solid reality and mentally shrugged. Okay, Lina. Time to

start talking, she thought. So, she opened her mouth and started to talk. 

"Well… the spell acts oddly and sometimes I'm just watching, unable to do a thing against it, but other times I'm there talking to you. You remember the first night…" she started.

"The night that you had to heal yourself afterwards, yes," he replied, a tinge of shame creeping into his voice.

"That was just the start of it…."

She told him everything, from beginning to end, the memories that she had seen, the ones she had interacted with, and occasionally she saw him shake his head, or nod slowly. At the end of the long monologue, she sighed, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Zel. I didn't mean to intrude on your life."

He shook his head slowly, considering the situation. "I know, Lina. But now… what? Some of it I recall as if it were a dream I was having with you in it… others I am unaware of your being there. After all is done, where does it end? Where does it leave us?"

Lina watched him stand up and turn to open the window and look out to the town with a brooding sort of glare. Glad that she'd only taken off her belt and boots, she tiptoed out of the bed and padded up behind him. "Zel… look… I don't know how you feel about this… I know that I'd be fairly upset if someone else suddenly knew almost everything about me growing up. I just wanted to let you know that… well, I understand more now. I want to help you with whatever this spell is that is trying to destroy you…"

He turned around suddenly, catching her into another embrace, only this time it was entirely intended as the hug that it was. "Lina… I…" _Clumsy fool, he thought to himself__. How do you say how you feel to someone like her? If I say it wrong… I don't wish to offend her!_

To his utter surprise, she stepped in closer to him, wrapping her arms around him, to hug him close. Burying her face into his chest, she whispered "Zel… I don't want you to feel…"

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Amelia's voice could be heard quite clearly through the thin wood. "Miss Lina? Are you awake? It's breakfast, and Mister Gourry might eat it all if you don't hurry and come down…"

Lina jumped, pulling herself guiltily out of Zelgadis' embrace and hollered back. "Yeah, I'll be down in a minute, Amelia. Tell that jellyfish-brain that if he doesn't leave me some food, I'll have to fireball him!"

"Okay, I'll do that…" There was a pause and Lina grabbed for her belt on the table by the bed. "Miss Lina, have you heard from Mister Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis looked up to the ceiling and sighed. This could get sticky…

Lina shot Zelgadis a look, then hollered back at Amelia as she pulled on a boot. "I'm sure we'll run into him in town, Amelia. Give me a second to put my boots on…" She looked down to pick up the other boot and pull it onto her foot.

When she looked up, the room was empty except for her. Zelgadis had obviously utilized the open window, taking the hint that Lina had offered by way of talking to Amelia. She shook her head and pulled her boot on. She would have liked more time to talk to him, without the pressure of the others. There was so much

to ask him, so much to say…

She walked over and opened the door to see Amelia still standing there. "Oh! Miss Lina…" the girl frowned slightly, looking past Lina, and into the room behind the sorceress. " Um…was someone in there with you?"

Lina looked to Amelia for a moment, then stepped out of the way so Amelia could see clearly into the now-empty room. "I was in there, but it's empty now. Come on, Amelia. I'm hungry, and Gourry's going to eat it all." _Okay, so it wasn't exactly an answer, but if I know Amelia, she won't ask… and that's a good_

_thing right now, because I don't know what I'd tell her, Lina thought._

Amelia nodded to Lina, still frowning as she looked into Lina's room. Strange… but she could have sworn that she felt the trace of Zelgadis' magic in there. She looked at Lina's retreating form and shook her head. Something was definitely up, and Amelia was going to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.


	10. Slayers True: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Lina walked down the stairs and into the hotel's miniature restaurant, looking about for the blonde swordsman and the inevitable pile of plates that usually meant that he was eating breakfast. Sure enough, there he was at a table in the corner, a harried waiter standing next to him, gathering stacks of plates off of the table.

Walking up to them, Lina looked to the waiter. "Did he leave me any?" she asked with a grin. The waiter couldn't possibly know how much she could eat, so the odds that he would reply favorably were good. Lina liked those odds. No sense in starting today on an empty stomach, even though, technically, she already had.

The waiter nervously nodded to her, seeing how small she was. There's no way that she could possibly eat as much as the blonde. "Yes, ma'am… May I ask what you would like?"

Lina cast a quick glance at the meager menu, and nodded. "Everything, triple portions. And could you hurry it up a bit? I'm on a tight schedule."

The waiter paused, and Gourry looked up at Lina. "If you're on such a tight schedule, Lina, why didn't you get up sooner?"

Lina closed her mouth, not willing to tell Gourry or Amelia how long she'd been up. It'd been sunrise when she awoke, and the discussion with Zelgadis had taken longer than she had thought. At least by the sun in the windows, it looked like late morning. She sat down and managed to glare at Gourry. "I had a rough night." Looking to the waiter, she shrugged. "Fine, just bring one of these," she muttered, pointing to a random selection on the menu.

The waiter nodded, and moved off to take another order, then vanished into the kitchen.

Amelia looked to Lina quietly as she sat in her chair. "Miss Lina, do you think we'll really find Mister Zelgadis in town today?"

Lina looked over at Amelia, trying not to reveal anything. "There's something really old and powerful around here, Amelia. I can't think why he wouldn't stay to investigate. And if we investigate too…"

"We're sure to find him!" Gourry finished as the waiter reappeared with food for Lina. 

Lina ate quickly, and messily, to Amelia's chagrin. Soon, the little party was out the door and heading into town.

The town was a quiet one, split by a wide river, with a whole lot of what Lina would call mundanes wandering the streets, peddling their wares. Twice now, Lina had bitten her tongue as a tan-cloaked figure was seen in the distance that turned out to not be Zelgadis. Sighing, she looked to Amelia and Gourry.

"That's it, I want to get something to drink before we go off to the other side of the river. Can we stop over there and get something to tide us over?" Lina said, pointing to a place that advertised itself as a 'tea-house.'

Amelia looked at Lina in despair. "Do you ever think of anything but food, Miss Lina?"

Lina paused for a moment. "Sure.There's treasure, and blasting bandits, and looking for old ruins in which to find a cure, eh, Zel…" She paused, her voice trailing off. They still hadn't found him, and Lina had seen him that morning… she sighed. "But right now, food is high on my list." She turned resolutely towards the door, determined not to let the disappointment show to the others. She'd been so sure that he'd come back.

She stepped into the door, pausing inside to allow her eyes to adjust. As they did, she scanned the place for a table. Suddenly, her gaze fell on a quiet figure drinking from a steaming mug. Was it…? He set the mug down and looked up, aquamarine eyes locking with crimson ones. _Zelgadis… he's here! He's right there! An unfamiliar ripple went thrilling through her, and she froze for a moment as he tilted his head to her._

"Oh! Lina, there's Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia brushed past the frozen sorceress and bounced up to the table.

Lina walked slowly up to the table, Gourry trailing along behind her, and when she got close, she pulled out a chair and sat slowly, watching the chimera for any sign of emotion. _He reminds me of when we first met… there's nothing I can see in his eyes…_

"So Mister Zelgadis, did you find what you were looking for yesterday?" Amelia asked as she waved to a waitress.

Zelgadis focused on Amelia, then nodded. "I did. It was… at the foot of a tree."

Lina coughed suddenly, taking the glass of water from the waitress with a grateful smile and drinking it quickly.

"A tree?" Amelia looked confused. "If you say so, Mister Zelgadis." She sounded highly doubtful.

He offered her the slightest of smiles, but offered nothing else on the matter.

Gourry finished his quiet discussion with the waitress and looked to Zelgadis. "Lina says there's something powerful nearby, Zelgadis. I'm not so sure, but there's a really old temple that has me curious."

Amelia, who hadn't been privy to Gourry's earlier display of intelligence, turned and stared at the blonde swordsman with her mouth wide open. "Mi…Mister… Mister Gourry?"

Lina sighed. Oh yeah… Amelia had no clue. Speaking of which, she didn't have any idea where this intelligence was coming from herself. "So, Gourry… tell us. What's the deal?"

Three pairs of eyes turned to look at the swordsman, who attempted to look like he was thinking for approximately three seconds - the precise amount of time needed for Lina to reach out and smack him with the slipper that she kept in her cape for just such occasions. "Jellyfish! Out with it, already!"

Gourry rubbed the side of his head and sighed. "Okay, okay… put that away before you hurt someone, huh, Lina?" He watched Lina stuff the slipper back into one of the various pockets in her cape, then picked up his water. "You all know that I'm Gourry Gabriev… but do any of you know who the Gabriev family is?"

Lina frowned slightly. Now that she was thinking about it, the name was awfully familiar. As if she'd met someone with that name before… It hit her about the same time Gourry said it.

"You see, I'm the great-grandson of Rouddy and Meliroon Gabriev."

Lina put her head on the table. Of course. It suddenly made all the sense in the world. Gourry was, in part, elf. And the very elf that held parentage to her companion was the same elf that she had assisted with Naga so long ago. The one and the same.

She suddenly realized that all this time that she'd been travelling with Gourry, she'd not once considered who he was. Lifting her head from the table, she sighed. "So… what you're telling us, Gourry, is that you really aren't…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"That dumb?" Gourry offered for her. "Not really. But it's only when I'm not focused on something else… like sword-fighting. I can only be good at one thing at a time."

"And that would be the elf-blood's effect on you. Suddenly, Gourry, a whole lot makes sense. Like why you have the Sword of Light… and why you're not that much of a thinker." Lina grinned. "But that's okay, Gourry. We still like you. Just don't hide any good ideas anymore, okay?"

Gourry nodded amiably. "I'll share them if I think them, but believe me, it's not always easy to think them when keeping us alive is more important."

"I agree. But it doesn't mean that thinking can't keep us alive. There's a time for thought, and a time for action," Zelgadis said as he put his cup down. "And right now, we need to consider the ruins under the town."

"Under the town?" Lina echoed. "You mean…" her voice trailed off as she realized what this might mean.

"There's an entire city under this one. And what I have seen gives all indication that it is as old as the Claire Bible. Possibly older."


	11. Slayers True: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The little group stood on the ledge, looking back up at the 'hole' that they had used to enter the ruins below the town. They were deep below the surface, and there was a stillness in the air that bespoke of ages untouched.

"Do you think it was okay to make that hole, Miss Lina? I mean, it's pretty obvious that no-one's been down here in a long time…" Amelia asked nervously, looking around the area.

"That just means that there's a higher chance of actually finding something down here, Amelia," Lina replied, walking up to a strangely shaped pillar.

"It sure is creepy down here," Gourry said, backing into a pillar and looking around, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Yeah, it is…" Amelia whispered, blue eyes wide as she tried to make some sense of the area.

Zelgadis didn't have a chance to make a comment, because Lina took three steps back from the pillar and ran into him with a gasp. Without thinking, he caught her. "What?"

Lina's voice was a shocked whisper. "Shigai no Ishi… the City of Stone…"

"It can't be, Miss Lina. The City of Stone is a myth… a story to keep children from playing with magic…" Amelia said nervously, looking around with wide eyes. She didn't notice Zelgadis' grip on Lina.

Lina pulled free of Zelgadis and held out a hand. "Source of all power, light which burns…" A ball of light formed in her outstretched hand, then lifted above their heads, gaining intensity as it rose to illuminate the area where they stood.

They were in what looked like a courtyard, the buildings stretching up into the rock and earth above them. But what was horrifying was the fact that the oddly shaped pillars weren't pillars at all. Instead, they were once the city's inhabitants. Every detail of every person had been turned to stone.

Gourry yelped as he jumped away from the 'person' that he was leaning on. "Okay, I take it back, Lina! It's really creepy down here!"

"Gourry, stop being such a jellyfish. If the city really exists… if half of what they said is really true… there could be a lot of really old spells here…" Lina said, approaching the figure again.

"Miss Lina… I'm going to be sick…" Amelia whimpered. "Can we go back up…?"

Lina rolled her eyes and looked at Amelia, who did indeed look a bit… green. "Fine. Let's go back up and work out a plan to investigate the city."

On the surface, Amelia perked up considerably, but refused to approach the makeshift entrance to the City of Stone again. "I'm sorry, Miss Lina. I just can't go back down there. If what they say is true… that those caught in the City… they get turned to stone…"

Lina put her hands on her hips and stared at the petite girl. "I can't believe this! Let me get this straight. You'll face down Ruby Eyed Shabranigdo, Hellmaster Phibrizo, DarkStar, and even look the Lord of Nightmares in the eyes, but you won't go into a mythical city? Oh, for crying out loud, Amelia!"

Amelia's eyes filled with tears. "But, Miss Lina! The Monster of Ishi…"

Lina glowered at Amelia. "Amelia, I don't believe in that thing! It was a spell that went horribly wrong, not some stone Monster!"

"I'm not going, and that's final, Miss Lina. The old tales say that the people aren't dead and that they watch the town forever, stuck in their stone bodies," Amelia said, folding her arms.

Lina threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! I'll go by myself if I have to. If they made up all those stories, there has to be something worth protecting. Gourry, Zel, you stay here and wait for me with Amelia."

That said, Lina turned and silently cast her levitation spell, vanishing back into the depths of the ruins.

An uncomfortable moment passed, the three staring at the hole into which Lina had gone. Then, "You two stay here. I'm going to make sure she stays out of as much trouble as possible."

Amelia put out her hand to stay him. "But, Mister Zelgadis…"

Gemlike aquamarine eyes looked steadily at the Princess of Sailune. "I've already been turned into stone, Amelia."

Amelia pulled her hand back and watched him follow Lina down the gaping hole. "Be careful, Mister Zelgadis…"

Once again within the ruined town, Lina landed by a water fountain, surprised to see that it was still functioning. The sounds of the water running in the fountain echoed like a lost soul within the stone-encased town. She looked to the building beside it, and realized with a start, that it was a church. Walking around and up to the door, she gave it an experimental tug. It opened easily, as if the hinges were regularly oiled, and she stepped inside, the sphere of light called into her hand with a moment's thought as she crossed the church threshold.

He landed just in time to see the flare of light in the church door and nodded. Two best places to start, the church and the library. So she'd found the church first. He walked over, stepping through the door and looking around.

It was a plain church, wooden floor and seats, a crude altar at the end of the walk. But there was no sign of Lina within. Frowning slightly, Zelgadis entered the church proper and narrowed his eyes as he looked for her.

"Lina?" he called out, unable to suppress the worry that something had happened to her. There was a crash in the distance, and he took off towards the door on the side of the church. 

He burst through the door as she turned to look at him with surprise in her eyes. "Zel…? What are you doing here? I thought I'd left everyone up there…"

He came to a halt, looking at her. "You… I… I wasn't about to leave you down here alone." He felt his cheeks turning red, and just knew that she could see it.

"Oh. Well, you really shouldn't have come down here, Zel… I mean, what if Amelia's right, and there is a monster down here that turns people to stone? I don't think I could live with myself if you got turned into stone while trying to protect me," Lina said, turning back to the books that she had found on the table.

Zelgadis sighed. "Lina… while I appreciate having to remind you of this… I am one third stone golem."

Lina turned to look at him, eyes flashing brilliantly in the magical light. "Maybe you are, but you're not solid stone, Zelgadis. You still breathe, and eat… and those villagers out there… this old priest-" Lina pointed to a figure that Zelgadis hadn't noticed. "They're stone through and through. Like sculptures made out of living things. I couldn't let that happen to you…"

Zelgadis looked at the stony visage of the old priest. The old man hadn't even feared this fate. Instead, he seemed almost… pleased. Looking back at Lina, he sighed. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

Lina looked at him for a long moment. _What are you doing, Lina? Here he is… he's trying… and you're doing your best to push him away again…_ "Okay… if that's what you want, Zel."

Startled, he searched her face for some sign of a trick. Tilting his head with narrowed eyes, he looked at her silently.

She didn't have a chance to answer, because right then, the room shook and both Lina and Zelgadis looked around the room in worry. "What was that!?" Lina asked, looking around the room.

Zelgadis narrowed his eyes and looked through the door. "I don't know. You stay here. I'm going to have a look."

He stepped outside into a bright and sunny day. Birds were chirping in the trees, and the sound of water running in the fountain was muffled by the sounds of a busy morning. He was so surprised that when a passing villager told him good-morning, he simply replied in kind.

Then it struck him.

Sun?

Day?

Moving people?

He turned and entered the church again, the room just the same as he'd just left it. The little room in the back was as dusty, and the still stone statue of the priest stood just as he remembered it.

But Lina was gone.


	12. Slayers True: Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Amelia and Gourry sat by the entrance to the underground city and waited. Gourry wasn't particularly upset, but Amelia fretted silently, an irrational fear filling her. Suddenly, the petite girl got up and started to pace back and forth, unable to do anything, and nervous about Lina and Zelgadis being down there.

"Amelia, just relax. They know what they're doing," Gourry said, watching the girl. He wasn't having to do much of anything, so he could think straight for the moment.

Amelia turned to look at Gourry. "But, Mister Gourry… they're down there in that city… and there's something really bad in there."

Gourry closed his eyes and considered. "Well… I can't say that I've got any magic sense at all… but I don't think anything weird is going on. Just sit down and relax." He paused, opening an eye. "I know! You can tell me why you're so afraid of that place. I've never heard of it."

Amelia sighed at him. "There's a lot of places you've never heard of, Mister Gourry." She shook her head and sat down again. "Shigai no Ishi… it can mean two things, equally. Both the Corpse of Stone, and the City of Stone. Either way, it's accurate. Supposedly, this city was in one of the two physical locations that the Great Staff was thrust through the world. Legend says that before the barrier existed, this city was one of the foremost in magic. There was nothing that they wanted, because they could bring it about by magic. It was supposedly a truly idyllic society. But magic brings power… and power brings corruption."

Gourry thought this over, nodding. "But so far, it doesn't sound so scary, Amelia."

Amelia allowed herself about five seconds to boggle over the fact that he was following her. "Well, it isn't. But the tales of a perfectly magical society brought people from all over the world to discover the truth behind it. Most of those who came simply moved in and became part of the city's inhabitants, satisfied that it was truly a blessed place. But one sorcerer started to wonder about the validity of the society. And the more he investigated, the scarier it became," Amelia continued, picking at the grass.

Gourry frowned. "How could a perfect place be scary? I don't get it."

Amelia looked at Gourry. "The sorcerer found out that the city's head magician was actually an evil Mazoku. And that the magic that the city was using was the Mazoku's own. Which meant that everyone in the city was unknowingly and unwittingly serving this evil creature."

"Wow!" Gourry said, both eyes open wide. "That is pretty bad. You don't think that it was Xellos, do you?"

"No," Amelia said, shaking her head. "It wasn't Mister Xellos. You see, the sorcerer decided that he couldn't allow these poor people to be used to feed the Mazoku, and so he cast a great spell that defeated the Mazoku, but cost him his life. He had intended only to turn the Mazoku to stone… but the spell went so horribly wrong due to the infused magic of the Mazoku… that everyone in the city was also turned into stone, as well as the Mazoku. The sorcerer was immune from the effects of the spell, but the magic that backlashed made him almost completely insane."

"I don't see what good he did, other than to stop the Mazoku, Amelia. If he turned all those people into stone…" Gourry started.

"He didn't do much good, really, Mister Gourry. Eventually, a traveler found the city and the lone sorcerer told him the story of the battle. After hearing the story, the traveler took the sorcerer to a nearby city, where it was decided to encase the city in a stone shield to prevent anyone from being able to bring the Mazoku back by accident. They shielded the city, and the sorcerer insisted that he be locked within for his crime of turning every inhabitant into stone. He wasn't denied… for everyone knew a half-mad sorcerer was a dangerous thing, but no one wanted to say it. The traveler was the last to see the sorcerer… and he returned to tell the tale that the sorcerer had drowned himself in the fountain of Ishi." Amelia said, looking quietly into the hole.

"Gosh. What if Lina and Zelgadis find the Mazoku?" Gourry asked nervously.

"Miss Lina knows the story, even though she doesn't believe in it. I'm pretty sure that she won't do anything really stupid. And Mister Zelgadis is with her…"

"You like him, don't you, Amelia?"

Gourry's question caught her completely unprepared. Wringing her fingers, she hedged around it for a moment, then sighed. "I do, Mister Gourry… but I'm not what he needs. He needs someone who isn't dependent on what the people think. I mean… eventually, one day, I'll have to be the Queen of Sailune… and that's not exactly a low-profile position. Mister Zelgadis is a very private person, and he wouldn't want an entire city watching him."

Gourry nodded thoughtfully. "Besides, he seems to like Lina a lot."

Amelia's head snapped around and she looked at the swordsman with wide blue eyes. "But… I thought you liked Miss Lina…?"

Gourry nodded. "I do. But not like that. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and Lina's a great friend… someone that I really like to travel with. But I grew up with Sylphiel… and she's the one I'm in love with."

Amelia blinked, confused. "But what about when you chased down the Lord of Nightmares and made her give Miss Lina back?"

Gourry shrugged. "Lina's a good friend. I couldn't just let the Lord of Nightmares steal her away from us."

"Oh," Amelia said, considering. "I'm glad, then. I'd hate to see you and Mister Zelgadis have to fight over Miss Lina. It's bad enough that Mister Xellos seems to like Miss Lina a bit too much."

"Yeah, well, Lina can take care of herself when it comes to Xellos. She seems to be the only one who can touch him," Gourry said.

"That's what makes me worry. I mean, why should Miss Lina be able to hurt him? Unless he wanted her to…?" Amelia asked.

Gourry only blinked, considering. That was a nasty thought, indeed. One never knew that the Trickster Priest was ever really up to… 

Zelgadis had searched the entire church for Lina, ending up back in the tiny little room with the statue of the priest. He hadn't found her, and he was beginning to get a very nasty feeling about this_. Damnit, I told her to stay put! Why can't she ever listen to me? There's something strange about this place, and the last thing I need is Lina missing._

The strangest sensation came over him, as if a high-level spell was being cast, and suddenly, the room shook again. He brought his arms up over his head to protect himself from the bits of rock that were falling from above, and in doing so, inadvertently looked down.

There was what looked like a bolthole under the ledge beside him, and he kneeled, peering into it, breath catching in his throat.

Lina was on the floor of the bolthole, eyes closed, out cold.

He opened his mage-sight to see with a cold despair, that her life force, her Astral sense was somewhere else. And he had a very sinking feeling that he knew what had happened. Rezo's spell had taken her again.

Very carefully, he lowered himself into the tunnel and knelt by her side. Her pulse was strong, she hadn't been Astral for too long. With a sigh of resignation, he cast the Astral Transference spell again, orienting on her.

Once again, she was caught up in the swirling ribbon of chaos.

Determined to get to her, he set his jaw and forced his way into and through the chaos, ignoring all that buffeted him. Damned if he'd let her fight this one alone. Especially when the spell had been on him to begin with.

When the 'world' around him settled, he stared in abject shock.

Lina was standing with her sword against another sword, obviously locked in heated battle… with himself!


	13. Slayers True: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The moment of mindless shock left Zelgadis, and he started forwards as the two met swords again with a clash. It wasn't really himself, he saw only after they turned in combat. She was locked into a battle with the demonic aspect of him, the aspect that had been called forth and used by Rezo. The demonic chimera had called forth the Astral Vine spell, and so had the advantage of an enchanted blade. Consequently, Lina was having a hard time defending. Her blade wasn't really meant for this kind of combat.

Afraid to break her concentration, and afraid that her blade would break, Zelgadis stood frozen in an uncertainty.

The demonic chimera had the clear advantage, as Lina seemed to be completely unwilling to attack him. Instead, she blocked and parried each of his attacks, keeping him from harming her, but not returning the blows herself.

Zelgadis frowned. What was she doing? He wouldn't tire… if she didn't find an advantage herself and press it… the demonic form would have her worn out in no time!

It happened so fast that he didn't see what had happened, but her blade went flying across the room to land with a sickening scrape of metal against stone. Backed up against the wall, Lina looked quietly at the demonic form of Zelgadis and took a deep breath.

There was no concentration to break. Zelgadis launched himself forward, towards his alter Self and Lina. "No!"

Her focus shifted over the shoulder of her attacker, and onto Zelgadis himself. Her eyes widened slightly, and she bit her lip.

He landed on the demonic chimera in time to pull him off-balance and away from the redhead. "I'm your target, not her!" he snarled, teeth bared and eyes flashing.

The demon growled wordlessly back, recognition flickering in the red eyes, the challenge taken. Astral blade came up to meet Astral blade, and the two forms of the one began a new battle.

Lina grabbed up her blade and started forwards to aid Zelgadis, but a hand suddenly fell onto her shoulder, a calm and familiar voice staying her. "No, Lina Inverse. This he must do by himself."

She turned to glare at the sightless eyes that 'watched' the battle. "You cast this on him," she said, protesting his presence.

"I did not, Lina Inverse. This that he fights is the aspect of Shabranigdo's power which lies within him, controlling him," the shadow of Rezo replied sadly.

"Shabranigdo?" Lina echoed, feeling something akin to terror. "In… Zelgadis?"

"Not a piece of Shabranigdo, but a part of his power, none-the-less. It was not I that cursed him, you will recall."

Lina sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I remember that discussion."

They watched the demonic chimera and Zelgadis fight, both nearly perfectly matched. Lina had serious doubts as to who might win this one, but kept them to herself and stood there beside Rezo, waiting.

Zelgadis knew that he had one option, but he was reluctant to use it while Lina was present. Blocking and returning attacks, he felt his own Astral Vine spell weakening, and knew that he had no choice. Either he would cast the spell, or he would lose. Blocking another blow, he took a breath, and began to cast.

"Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite. Everlasting flame of blue, let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the Infinite…"

Lina cringed, instantly realizing what Zelgadis was doing. 

"RA-TILT!"

The blue-white flare swallowed the room.

She opened her eyes on the floor of a tunnel that she did not recognize. Groaning softly, she rolled over and her groan turned into a gasp when she saw Zelgadis on the floor beside her, unconscious.

Oh no… he'd been fighting himself… and he cast the Ra-Tilt… did he…? "Zelgadis?" She whispered, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He didn't reply, didn't move, and Lina blinked, switching her gaze to mage-sight.

There was no aura around him.

She felt a stab of pain, accompanied by a certainty that the Ra-Tilt had done too well a job. It was never designed to be cast directly on the Astral Plain… the implications of such a spell cast at the very root of its power… how in the name of Cephied had she survived it?

She reached out and touched his stony cheek. It was perhaps, the first time she'd ever reached out on her own to touch his skin. Knowing how sensitive he was to his appearance, she had never dared do so before.

There was a chill to his skin, and while it felt like stone… there was a strange sense to the stone… perfectly mobile, perfectly flexible. She rested her hand there, looking at him sadly. _Why can't I do this when he's right here, with me?_

There was a shimmer, and an aura-sense washed over him, scintillating within her mage-sight.

Uncertain, she moved her hand, backing away and switching back to normal sight. She didn't know who would open those closed eyes, and she knew better than to take any chances.

He lifted a hand, raising it to his forehead, and grunted. He felt like hell. Every inch of him ached, though he couldn't tell if it was a physical ache or not. Casting that Ra-Tilt had not been one of his brighter ideas, he could tell.

Opening his eyes, he focused first on his arm, then across to the ceiling. The stone above reminded him how he got there in the first place, and he looked over to where he had left Lina.

She wasn't there.

Frowning, he forced himself to sit and reeled from the sudden rush of disorientation. Bother that, he had to find Lina!

Closing his eyes to keep from seeing the world sway, he rose to his feet, unsteady and off-balance.

_Hell with it, that's my__ Zelgadis!_

A hand caught him as he started to fall, a slender shoulder slipping under his arm. Oh good, he'd found her. _Or, rather, he thought muzzily, __she's found me. There was a secondary wave of disorientation, then a healing spell washed through him, mending injuries that he hadn't known he had. Looking down, he saw her red hair, saw and felt the hand against his chest as she continued to cast the healing spells._

The nausea and disorientation faded away, and he began to feel somewhat more like himself. He brought his hand up to cover hers, and he found his voice again.

"Lina… are you all right?"

She paused between castings, and looked up to him. Crimson eyes filled with worry met his blue ones. "Zel… what happened?"

His breath caught for a moment as he looked at her. She looked small, vulnerable, and a fierce protectiveness rose as he brought his arm around her to hold her close. He hadn't hurt her in that… she hadn't been touched by the Ra-Tilt…

His sudden embrace surprised her, and she squeaked at him inadvertently. The sound surprised them both, and he leaned a little to look at her. She blinked at him with wide eyes for a moment, then felt her cheeks begin to take on a tingle of warmth. He gave her his little half-smile, squeezed her hand lightly, then let her go.

_He likes me… he likes me… he… cut it out, Lina! You're not some giddy schoolgirl, and this is not the time for that! She looked at him, the blush still glowing lightly on her cheeks._

"What happened?" She tried again. The last thing she had seen was the beginning of the Ra-Tilt.

He straightened his cloak and looked at her in all seriousness again. "The Ra-Tilt defeated the… demon."

She tilted her head, looking at him. "Which means what, exactly? Is it… he… dead?" _I've gotta figure out all these riddles. What Rezo's told me… that Zelgadis holds the key to the spell… but the spell itself is within Zelgadis. It's so damned circular… and perfectly Rezo! He wasn't completely obliterated by Shabranigdo… but he couldn't counter the Dark Lord directly. So he had to take more subtle ways of countering… Lina thought._

He shook his head, uncertain himself of exactly what had occurred. There had been a moment where everything felt as though it were ending and beginning all over again… but he didn't want to think about it right now. Not in the City of Stone, at the very least. "I don't know. Shall we get out of here and continue to investigate the city?"

She looked towards the far end of the tunnel. "Let's see where this leads. It may lead us to something useful."

He nodded, turning and walking towards the far door. 


	14. Slayers True: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The instant that they opened the door, both Lina and Zelgadis regretted it. The residue of dark and warped magic permeated the room like a living, breathing thing. Zelgadis slammed the door shut, turning to lean heavily against the iron and look at Lina.

Lina swallowed hard, fighting the urge to be ill as her stomach twisted from the raw sensation of the magic. "Ugh…" She managed. "What was that…?"

"My guess is that's the remaining magic of the Mazoku that used to live here," Zelgadis replied, equally disturbed.

_There's no way I'll get Amelia down here to clean this up… Something occurred to her and she shivered violently. "Zel… this means… any black magic I use in here… would call on that first…"_

"Then you'll have to avoid using any black magic. There's no telling what damage your dragon slave could do by pulling on that magic," Zelgadis said, looking at Lina calmly now.

Lina nodded slowly. "Let's go back upstairs and try to figure out where that room is… without having to enter it, if possible. Maybe it's a basement room of another building."

"Why? Lina, I think we ought to just let this place stay as it is. We don't belong in here, why stir up trouble when neither of us are in any shape to deal with it?"

His objection startled her, and she looked to him. "But Zel… what about a potential cure…? I mean, this is older than the Claire Bible!"

He shook his head. "No, Lina. We're both caught up in Rezo's spell. What if we were in the middle of a fight with something in here and the spell decided to pull us away?"

Lina opened her mouth to argue the point, but the fierceness in his eyes backed her down. She nodded, defeated. "Fine. We'll work out that spell first, and then maybe we can come back here and look."

Gourry was sitting quietly, enjoying the relative peace of the early evening, but Amelia was up and pacing again. They'd been gone now for several hours, and Amelia had run the gamut of emotions, only to wind back up where she had started.

There was a rustle of cloaks, and both Lina and Zelgadis alighted nearby.

Both Amelia and Gourry turned to see them, and stared. To say that both of their friends looked like hell was putting it mildly. Gourry stood, surprised, and Amelia ran to support Lina because it looked to her like the redheaded sorceress was about to fall over.

"Miss Lina, Mister Zelgadis! What happened down there?" Amelia asked in dismay as she reached Lina's side.

Lina lifted her hand. "We just look a lot worse than we feel, Amelia." She shifted her weight, applying a slight pressure to Zelgadis. Lying through her teeth, she continued brightly. "I'm hungry, and there's no food down there. So… I thought we could go back to town, clean up, and get some food."

Gourry grinned. "Sounds good to me! You two look like you've been in some old catacomb or something."

Lina looked down at herself, noticing how dusty and dirty she was. "I'm not sure what it was, Gourry. But it left its mark, and I need a bath!" Nudging the chimera beside her, she grinned. "So do you, Zel." There was a particularly dusty area on his cheek where, Lina realized with a jolt, she had touched him.

Zelgadis, having long learned by now, was playing his part stoically and perfectly. He folded his arms and started walking towards the city nearby. "Sure. Suddenly it's Pick on the Chimera Day."

Stifling a grin, Lina turned around to watch him. "Aw, come on, Zel…"

Amelia put her hands on her hips and frowned at his back. "But she's telling the truth, Mister Zelgadis."

He didn't stop, so the others took off after him.

Lina settled into the warm water with a sigh_. Oh… that feels good. I hadn't realized how tired I was… Zel was right. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall and silently thanked him._

A shadow fell across her, and she opened her eyes to see Amelia standing beside the water, as if debating whether or not she ought to get in. "What's wrong, Amelia? The water's nice, and I showered first. Come on in."

The petite princess sat at the edge of the bath, slipping her legs in first. She was obviously preoccupied, and Lina wondered for a moment before Amelia gave in and sighed. "Miss Lina… is everything working out for you and Mister Zelgadis? I don't want to sound pushy, but he really deserves to be happy, and…"

Lina sat up, looking at Amelia. "Amelia… you're such an incredibly sweet person, did you know that?"

Amelia blinked, eyes growing wide. Lina'd never said anything like that before. "Um… me? But I thought… I mean, I know I annoy you a lot of times…"

Lina grinned. "Amelia, everyone annoys me a lot of times. That's… who I am."

Amelia gave Lina a long look. "Are you sure you're okay, Miss Lina? You didn't get possessed or anything in that city, did you?"

Lina shook her head. "No, we didn't really find anything that was useful yet…" She paused. "Amelia… you remember the other night… when you cast the Astral Transference spell?"

Amelia nodded, slipping into the water completely. "Yeah… what happened?"

Lina sighed, looking off across the water. "Well… Rezo cast some sort of spell on Zelgadis."

"Another one? Poor Mister Zelgadis!"

Lina shook her head. "No, Amelia. This time, he was trying to help. You see… it was really Shabranigdo that cast the curse on Zelgadis. And while Rezo wasn't strong enough to counter the spell, he could cast a spell that would subtly allow Zelgadis over time to overcome it with time."

Amelia frowned. "But I don't understand…"

Lina sighed. "When Rezo went into seclusion so long ago… Shabranigdo took over. The whole time we fought him… he was Shabranigdo, not Rezo. Rezo's soul was trapped within his body by Shabranigdo. When I cast the Giga Slave on him, Rezo's soul was freed and helped me destroy the Dark Lord."

"Oh… poor Rezo…" Amelia whispered.

Lina nodded. "And so he did what he could to protect Zelgadis. But the spell's backfired and now both Zelgadis and I are caught in it."

"Caught in it? What do you mean, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked, looking with concern to the redheaded sorceress.

"The spell was only intended to show Zelgadis the way to break the curse. However, Rezo didn't anticipate that Shabranigdo would leave a little of his own power in Zelgadis."

Amelia gasped in horror. "Mister Zelgadis… is Shabranigdo?"

Lina facefaulted. "No, Amelia… do you remember when Zelgadis was controlled by Rezo and turned against us?"

The princess thought for a moment. "Yeah… I do."

"Well, that was really a infinitely small part of Shabranigdo. And because the Dark Lord isn't completely destroyed, it still has power within Zelgadis," Lina said. "And that's what caused Rezo's spell to backfire."

Amelia considered, but didn't say anything.

"As it is now, I'm the one that the spell seems to have transferred to… and when it takes effect, I get taken off into the Astral Plane and swallowed into a lot of chaos. Somewhere is the key to solving this… but I haven't found it yet. I'm sure it has something to do with what Rezo told me," Lina mused.

"What did Rezo tell you, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked. "Maybe if we both work on it…"

"Rezo told me that he couldn't counter Shabranigdo's curse on Zelgadis… but that he could give Zel the keys to undoing it. And that those keys became a part of Zelgadis himself. But what they are… or how to activate them… I haven't figured that out yet."

Amelia sighed. "That's not a lot to work with, Miss Lina."

Lina grimaced. "Tell me about it! The only advantage I see is that somehow, this spell has linked me with Zel. I've seen a lot of things about his past… and I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. I mean, we all know how he likes his privacy… and here I've been granted all this personal history about him…"

Amelia sighed, thinking how lucky Lina was. "As long as you don't misuse it… and you don't hold it over him…"

Lina looked at Amelia. "Amelia, I like him. He's a good friend. There's no way I'd intentionally hurt him like that!"

Amelia smiled. "Good."

Lina leaned back into the water, and the two girls settled into a companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. 


	15. Slayers True: Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The pillow was soft and thick, the blankets warm and full… but somehow Zelgadis just couldn't sleep. Memories of the battle with the demonic chimera aspect haunted him when he closed his eyes, and he fought to keep his pulse at normal speeds.

Finally, he gave up and got out of the bed, dressing and heading down and out to walk and think. It always helped to do something while he was thinking.

Once outside, he looked around, then headed for a small woodsy area near the hotel. He thought with wry amusement, that maybe he'd climb a tree and find comfort from the memory within the lofty branches. But once he got into the cove of trees, he saw that there was a small clearing in the center, and Lina was standing within it, her blade drawn.

Alarmed, he moved quickly, only to break into the clearing and see that her eyes were closed as she stepped through movements of a practice routine with her sword. Back and forth, side to side, the steps were as familiar to him as is they had been his own motions. They were the beginnings of advanced swordplay, steps not learned in any formal classes, but taught by private instructors. As he watched, he noted the finely controlled fierceness, each step and move as if precisely calculated.

He hadn't known the measure of her skill with a sword… she had seemed more suited to solve a situation with a fireball than a blade… but it gratified him to know that she was as skilled as she was showing.

He watched for a few minutes more, then in a spur of the moment's thought, decided to risk it and offer her the chance to spar with him. Stepping silently forward, he drew his own blade and met hers lightly to catch her attention with a slight smile. If she took the offer, it might be a good way for them both to work out their thoughts.

Her eyes snapped open at the light sound and impact of blades. Her eyes narrowed as she looked to him for a moment, a soft blush creeping into her cheeks, but then she nodded wordlessly and gave a small salute with the blade as she backed off of her center to allow him to enter the 'sword-circle.'

He did so, bringing up his blade in a silent salute, then took the ready position, blade low, clearly offering her the offense.

She wasted little time in taking it, and soon they were both pressing each other for an advantage. Zelgadis had the advantage of both speed and endurance, but Lina was doing well at holding her own against him. It was only a spar for the sake of sparring… not a true battle, so they both knew when to pull their attacks and advantages.

For almost an hour, the only sounds in the clearing were the meeting of blades, the soft footfalls and grunts that typically accompanied sword fighting. Finally, Zelgadis broke the silence, but not the sword-work. "I didn't know you practiced alone. I would have sparred with you before."

She blushed, bringing up her sword to block his. "I… I needed to do something to work off some extra energy, that's all." She stepped back, aiming a mid-range swing.

He parried, feinted high, and then caught her low. Stepping back, he saluted again, sheathing his blade. "Lina… when I cast the Ra-Tilt… how did you escape it?"

Lina blinked, lowering her sword and trying to remember.A moment passed, then another, and she shook her head. "I don't know. All I remember was standing there with Rezo, watching. You cast the Ra-Tilt, and I opened my eyes in the tunnel below the church."

"Rezo? Rezo was with you?" Zelgadis growled, though she knew it wasn't at her that he was growling.

"It wasn't really Rezo, Zel… it was more like the memory of his soul," Lina said, setting her blade back in its sheath at her hip. "I've been trying to puzzle it out, and it's not making much sense to me. Shabranigdo was the one who cursed you, and Rezo did what he could to give you the chance to make it better… but I don't see how all the pieces fit together."

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Lina shook her head. "I don't know. All I have is this collection of information, and none of it fits together. Somehow, the memories of you trying to… kill yourself, and the demonic chimera in you… and Shabranigdo's power… they all fit into a solution. Only I'm not sure what it is yet. And somewhere in all of this, I'm there. But I don't know how, and I don't know why. Somehow I'm supposed to help you, and I haven't the vaguest clue how to begin!" She could feel her emotions warring, the frustration sparking hot tears into her eyes.

He watched her, listening, considering. "Lina," The tears caught the light in her eyes, and he sighed. Was it all a part of Rezo's spell, all because she'd been caught up in something she never should have been involved in? He turned halfway, unsure what to say. "You shouldn't have to worry about me," he said gruffly.

She caught his arm, her voice small and alone in the clearing. "Zel… I'm only trying to help you… I don't want to hurt you. There's so much I know, and so little I understand… but I don't know what I'm doing here other than screwing up. I'm sorry."

He paused, two distinct courses of action before him. Zelgadis wasn't cruel by nature, and he wasn't a person of uncertainty, at least, not before this whole mess started. The flashbacks had been inconvenient enough, but with Lina being a part of them… interacting with them… it left him uncertain and disturbed by the very uncertainty_. What do I do…? I feel somehow like we're both dancing around something bigger than we are… each afraid to say something about it… A moment passed with him still half-turned to look into her eyes, then one path clarified itself to him, and he took it without further mental indecision._

He brought his arm up out of her grasp and looked to her again for a long moment. Then, very deliberately, he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, offering a smile.

"I can't think of anyone I'd like better at my side."

Lina looked at him again, feeling the pressure of his hand on her shoulder. _He isn't pushing away…maybe there's a chance… She stepped forwards slightly and reached up to put her hand on his cheek, just as she had done in the tunnel._

His eyes widened, crystal gaze sharpening. Lips parted, he whispered her name in the form of a question.

She smiled softly, apologetically, letting her hand fall away.

He caught her hand in his free one, the hand on her shoulder slipping to her back as he pulled her into a close hug. Surprised by his action, she stiffened for a moment before she settled into the embrace, bringing her free arm around him and resting the one he was holding against him. He smelled softly of clean linen and something that she couldn't identify as anything other than him, a somewhat dusty smell of earth and magic.

As she relaxed into his embrace, he felt his tension fade, and he lowered his head to hers. To him, she smelled of spice and fire-kissed greenwood, the fresh and inspiring scent that he suddenly realized he had come to miss when she wasn't nearby.

They stood like that for a long time in the little clearing, the wind rippling through the trees and the stars shining through the rustling leaves.


	16. Slayers True: Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Morning dawned cheerfully into Amelia's face through the slatted blinds of the hotel room. With a yawn, the girl opened her eyes and bounced out of bed. She was the morning person of the group, almost always greeting the day (and everyone else) with a bright smile and endless chatter. Today was going to be no different, as far as she knew. True, she had a few concerns over the situation that Miss Lina and Mister Zelgadis seemed to have been caught up into, but that was part of her life now. After all, Mister Zelgadis and Miss Lina were working on a cure for him… and well, Amelia had finally accepted that while she was Mister Zelgadis' friend… she'd never be more than that. _So, there is no use dwelling on unhappiness, she thought as she dressed._

_Right? Right!_

She clasped her short cloak at her throat with her amulet, and peered in the mirror. Perfect. The bright and shining little Warrior of Justice was wide-awake and ready to spread cheer through the morning, even if it did annoy Miss Lina. And it was okay, really, because Miss Lina had told her just last night that everything annoyed her… so it wouldn't be anything different.

She opened the door to her room and headed down to get some food before Miss Lina and Mister Gourry got up. It was the only way to assure herself of breakfast.

Amelia was about halfway through her muffin and tea when Gourry came in, looking moderately confused. "Gosh, Amelia… I was expecting Lina to beat me to breakfast. This is twice now that she's slept in. Do you think that there's something wrong with her?"

Amelia swallowed before she spoke. "I'm not sure, Mister Gourry. Would you like me to go check?" She picked up her tea, because she knew that he'd say yes, and she wanted another mouthful of tea before she went upstairs.

"Yeah, if you would… I'd hate to think that Lina's sick or something," Gourry said, sitting down to look at the menu as the princess stood and set her teacup down.

Amelia walked down the hall and up to the closed door which Lina had vanished behind last night, and stopped to knock smartly above the doorknob.

"Miss Lina?"

Silence answered, so Amelia knocked again, this time a little louder, and called out just a little clearer. "Miss Lina, it's breakfast…"

Still no answer.

Amelia frowned slightly, and mumbled "Pardon me, Miss Lina," as she opened the door and stepped into the room.

Lina's room was empty, the bed rumpled slightly, but obviously not slept in. The comforter hadn't even been turned down. It looked like Lina had sat on the edge of the bed, and then simply stood up and walked away.

Amelia headed out of the room quickly, arriving at the table where Gourry was eating an enormous stack of what looked like pancakes. "Mister Gourry! She's not in there, and I don't think she was here all night!"

Gourry paused in mid-swallow to look at her. Finishing his mouthful, he looked at her. "Gosh, I wonder where she could be?"

The door to the hotel opened, and a young woman looked in, focusing on Amelia. "You! Can you cast healing spells?"

Amelia blinked, nodding. "I can, but my friends are missing… I have to…" A thought occurred. "Why?"

The young woman turned to holler to someone outside. "In here! There's a healer in here!"

Amelia and Gourry watched as the woman held the door open and three townspeople carried Lina and Zelgadis in the door. Understandably, both of the men carrying Zelgadis were red in the face, while the younger man carrying Lina was completely at ease carrying the slender redhead.

"Oh no! What happened? Where did you find them?" Amelia cried, rushing to them.

Gourry stood, walking over to frown at the two who were being placed gently on the floor of the hotel. "It must be that spell, Amelia. They're both Astral."

Amelia still wasn't used to Gourry having a clue, and she shook her head to clear the cobwebs of confusion caused by Gourry's statement. "Miss Lina said that she and Mister Zelgadis were caught up in some sort of spell that Rezo the Red Priest had cast… and there's nothing that we can do."

Gourry frowned. "Well, we can't just leave them there on the floor…"

Amelia nodded. "This is true… Levitation!" Her spell wound around both Lina and Zelgadis, and she started lifting them both… only to discover that she still didn't have the fine control that Miss Lina did. "Mister… Gourry…" She didn't want to drop either of them, but she was going to if he didn't help.

Gourry stepped forward and caught Lina, allowing Amelia to focus her magic on 'carrying' Zelgadis. It wasn't too hard, once she put her hand under the unconscious chimera's back.

They carried the pair into Amelia's room, laying them both on the bed. Amelia knew that would raise a few questions when they came back… but they'd face that when it happened.

"So what now, Amelia?" Gourry asked as he watched the petite princess release the spell and allow Zelgadis to drift into the mattress.

Amelia sighed as the last of the levitation spell faded. "Now we can only wait. We don't know how long they've been Astral… I can only hope that it hasn't been too long…"

Gourry nodded slowly. That could be dangerous.

Lina walked back down the corridor and into the room where she had left the meditating chimera. It wasn't her Zelgadis there, and she wasn't sure if he had been caught up in the spell as well, or if she was on her own for this one. "Hey, look. I know I'm interrupting you again, but could you just talk with me for a few minutes? There's some stuff that I'm trying to figure out, and maybe you can help."

One eye opened, and looked at her dispassionately. "What?" The question was flat, a clear indication that he'd rather meditate.

Lina sighed and sat on the floor. "When you were cursed… what do you remember? I mean, other than the pain and the horror?"

There was a silence, and Lina feared that she had pushed him too far with that one question and he'd clam up like he used to. Then, "Why?"

Lina looked up, seeing only his shoulder. "Because it might have a clue of how to undo the curse. Rezo said that there's a counter-spell within you… but I'm not having much luck finding it."

She was suddenly standing in the cave, the broken daggers on the floor. Looking over, she saw herself crumpled against the wall, fading out like a distant memory. He'd been standing over her, and now he turned to see her standing there, uninjured.

"Do you never die?" He growled.

She shrugged, folding her arms and looking at him. "Probably, but not right now. What do you remember about the curse that Rezo placed on you?"

"What does it matter to you?" he countered, walking closer to her.

_At least there's one constant here… Lina thought. "Because I'm trying to help find a cure, Zelgadis…"_

"A cure," He echoed hollowly. "The only cure is death."

"That's not true!" Lina said, stepping backwards involuntarily when he came closer, the slight edge of madness evident in his eyes. _How did he ever survive…? How did he ever not become…_

She stood in a burning town, confusion filling her. Where was she? She hadn't been here before…? Moving through the street, she saw a familiar figure ahead. Without understanding how, she knew that it was her Zelgadis, that he had indeed been taken into the spell. Walking up behind him, she rested a hand on his arm. "What happened here?"

His voice was empty when he replied. "I did."

Shocked, she turned him to look at his face. Bitterness, shame, anger, they all rippled through eyes that would not meet hers. "You…? Under Shabranigdo's control?"

"I couldn't stop it… the Mazoku was too powerful… all these innocent people…" he whispered, unable to take his eyes away from the figure atop a nearby building.

Lina looked up, seeing the demonic chimera and frowned. There was a reason for this… something that had to be done… _But what? Does he have to forgive himself? Do we have to defeat the demon again? Maybe both…?_

She stepped forwards, moving away from Zelgadis and towards the demon. Casting levitation silently, she brought her arms up across her stomach, lining up the dragonblood talismans. They activated without a second thought. Slowly, she placed her hands lowly before her, crossing her wrists and clasping her hands together as she lifted into the air. A moment passed as she hoped that her Zelgadis would clue in, and she began to cast silently in her mind. _You who cross between sky and earth, gently flowing water, gather in my hand and give me power…She opened her eyes to glare at the demonic chimera who she was now in front of. As she unclasped her hands and flung wide her arms, the final phrase rang through her mind.__ DEMONA CRYSTAL!_


	17. Slayers True: Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The air in the hotel room had suddenly chilled, as if someone had cast a powerful Grey Buster spell. Amelia looked nervously to Gourry, then turned back to the bed as she heard movement.

Zelgadis had sat up, clearly halfway between confusion and panic, a combination that Amelia hardly ever (if ever) saw in Zelgadis. As he blinked to clear his awareness, Amelia approached hesitantly.

"Mister Zelgadis…?"

He looked to her and took a deep breath. "I'm all right." He wasn't really… he was exhausted and annoyed that Lina had pulled such a stunt… and Lina! He looked to the still sorceress, who was oddly enough, lying beside him… on the bed. A tinge of a blush crept its way to his cheeks and he turned to look flatly at Amelia.

The girl blanched, stammering. "Um… it made sense to keep you two near each other… if you were under the same… spell… um… Why isn't Miss Lina awake?"

He managed to glower as she stammered, but her question echoed his own unasked question, and he looked back to Lina, wondering what she was doing.

Lina was hovering in the air, looking out over the now-frozen town. While she had managed to also freeze the demonic chimera, he was far from defeated, and she knew it. "That's it," she snarled at the demon-chimera, her patience gone. "You're staying right there until I decide what to do about you. I've had it with this whole 'let's drag Zelgadis down until he thinks nothing of himself' routine, and if you're hiding one of the keys that I need to help free him, then I'll take it away by any means necessary. You got me?"

Something flickered within the wild red eyes, but nothing else was offered, so she turned and flew away, willing herself back out of the Astral Plain.

She opened her eyes to find herself lying on a bed, looking up at Zelgadis… who was on the bed beside her. Unaware that Amelia and Gourry were in the room, she stared back up at him, a blush creeping over her cheeks. "Uh… Zel…?" She became aware of Amelia's presence near the bed, and Lina scrambled backwards out of the bed to glare hotly, a firey blush burning in her cheeks. "Hey! What's the meaning of this!"

Zelgadis closed his eyes, lowering his head with a sigh, which left Amelia to be the one to explain. "Well… Miss Lina… You see…" the girl's voice trailed off as she blushed.

"The villagers found you two outside, and we brought you in here because if you were under the same spell, it wouldn't have been a good idea to separate you," Gourry said, helpfully. "Right, Amelia?"

"Er… that is…" She turned gratefully to the swordsman. "Right, Mister Gourry!" She peeked back at Lina, who looked a lot less angry now, and more just embarrassed.

The redheaded sorceress curbed her temper and sighed. This was just too much. She was too tired to deal with it, and she sat back down on the bed, shaking her head slowly. "Whatever, Amelia. I'm too tired to argue the point. I need some sleep… and food… but I'm too tired to eat right now, so I'm just going to go to bed, okay?" _I'm too tired to stand up and walk to my room… Lina thought as she leaned over and curled up on the edge of the bed. __If anyone says anything, I'll fireball them later…_

Amelia swallowed, watching Lina curl up and immediately fall asleep. Poor Miss Lina… her gaze settled on Zelgadis and she blinked. _He's tired too… He's half asleep just sitting there… She wrestled with herself for just a moment, then turned to look at Gourry. Walking forward and grabbing him by the arm, she started out the door, with Gourry in tow._

"Come on, Mister Gourry. Let's see what there is in the way of supplies in this town…" she said, closing the door behind them.

Gourry looked at her, completely confused. "But…"

Amelia let go of the swordsman, turning and putting her hands on her hips. "But what, Mister Gourry? They've been up all night, and they need to sleep. Miss Lina isn't carrying all of the money, you know."

Gourry looked at Amelia, then shook his head. "You're right, Amelia. Someone's gotta get supplies." He brightened up. "Hey, I know! Maybe there's a store in this town that sells things useful on the Astral Plane."

Zelgadis was only half-aware that the door had closed behind Amelia and Gourry. All he knew was that a wave of exhaustion had hit him, and he was sitting on a bed. He was too tired to be picky, and Lina could kill him for it later…

Lina awoke, some hours later, to discover the disadvantage of rolling over by her current bedpartner: Zelgadis' hair was sharp. Having thusly been poked, a crimson eye opened to focus on the bluish and tan blur beside her. 

Several hearbeats passed, then the hotel (as well as that side of town) was 'treated' to a very loud soprano scream.

It was purely a reflex action, as Lina screaming like that could not mean anything good. Zelgadis rolled sideways and backwards out of the bed, landing in a crouch, one hand out for spell-casting, and the other reaching for the sword that was lying beside the bed and not at his hip.

First he realized where the sword was. Then he realized that Lina was sitting up in the very same bed that he had just vacated, screaming, assumably, at him. Or, rather, his presence in the room, let alone the same bed.

He lowered his hand, looking at her. "Lina… it's not what it looked like… Will you stop screaming and let me explain?"

"Explain? What is there to explain, Zelgadis! I wake up, and you're sleeping in the bed beside me!" Lina hollered, blushing a brilliant scarlet.

He paused, an unidentifiable emotion flickering across his face, then he stood and retrieved his sword. "I'll leave now," He turned and moved silently to the door, opening it, then closing it behind him.

Gourry and Amelia came running up just in time to see Zelgadis close the door behind him quietly, and fasten his sword at his side.

"Mister… Zelgadis?" Amelia asked, eyes wide.

Stone blue eyes looked to the petite girl for a moment. "Lina woke up. I'm going out," He stepped past them, without further comment, and left the hotel.

Gourry looked at Amelia. "You get to explain it to her, not me. I'm going to go put this stuff up." He hefted the bag of supplies over his shoulder, and walked down the hall towards his room, whistling.

Amelia watched him for a moment, then sighed_. May as well knock… even though she's in my room… She reached up and knocked on the door. "Miss Lina?"_

When Lina didn't answer, Amelia turned the handle and gently pushed open the door, poking her head in to look.

Lina was sitting in the bed, crumpled against herself. She looked up as Amelia tiptoed into the room, and towards the bed.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lina… but you two were exhausted after coming back from the Astral Plane… and I didn't see anything wrong with you two just sleeping where you were… It's all my fault, please don't blame Mister Zelgadis…" Amelia said softly, looking to the shaking sorceress.

Lina sighed, shaking her head and fumbling with her hands to try to stop them from shaking. "It's not that, Amelia… I… I screamed… at _him. I saw him there and… and I screamed… at Zelgadis…" her voice trailed off as she hugged herself. "Oh, Lina… what have you done…?"_

Amelia sat on the edge of the bed and looked to the redheaded sorceress who sat there and shook. "You were only reacting to finding someone in bed with you, Miss Lina… I probably would have done the same thing."

Lina's eyes were bright with tears as she shook her head. "But that's not how he'll see it. You know how sensitive he is, Amelia. I… screamed…" She stood up, tugging at her cloak to twist it right. "Did he go to his room?"

"No… I…" Amelia sighed. "He said that he was going out… Miss Lina…?"

Lina fussed with her hair for a moment, then looked at Amelia. "What?"

The girl shook her head slowly, looking at the blanket, and a stray silvery wire hair left behind. Picking it up, she smiled faintly. "We only ever hurt the ones we love…" She watched as Lina gave her an odd little look, then grabbed her sword and left the room.

Outside the hotel, Lina scanned the busy evening streets. It wouldn't be hard for someone to lose themselves in this. But she had an idea of where he went, and she turned, heading back to the little grove of trees.


	18. Slayers True: Chapter 18

# Chapter 18

On the other side of town, far away from the little grove of trees that Lina was searching through for Zelgadis, a certain chimera sat on the bank of a river and tossed stones into the swirling water. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about this latest… disaster. It wasn't as if he could walk away this time. Rezo's spell guaranteed that he'd see her again, in one world or the other. He'd honestly expected her to fireball him, not just sit there and scream. He closed his eyes, leaning against the boulder that he had sat beside. It wasn't as if he had even been able to enjoy the thought of falling asleep beside her. He'd been too bloody tired. And now, he was too put out.

Footsteps falling caught his attention, and he opened his eyes, knowing who it was by the pattern of the steps, slowly turning his head along the boulder to see Lina approaching quietly. Her hands were clasped tightly, head high, and as she approached him, he became aware that something wasn't quite right. There was a major buildup of unreleased power around her, almost crackling in its intensity. As she got closer, he could see it in her eyes – she was fighting the spell that was trying to take her Astral again. He stood, turning to look at her in concern, and as she neared him, she opened her mouth. That simple action on her part cost her the concentration that kept the spell from taking her.

She didn't get the words out before she fell to the ground.

She hit the stone floor of Rezo's tower hard, and sat up, cursing the spell Rezo had cast. _Of all the inopportune times to come yank me into this place… I could have at least had the chance to apologize first! She stood, looking around to see that she was in Zelgadis' room… and he was still on the stone slab. Only this time, he was sitting there, looking at her calmly. _

She blushed involuntarily and started towards the door. "Sorry…" She muttered, but his hand caught hers, stopping her.

"Wait. This makes the third time you have been here. Now I want to know what is going on." His voice was quiet, still as emotionless as when they had first met, but he had asked her…

She turned, pulling her hand self-consciously out of his grasp. "I… I wish I knew. All I know is that I'm trying to find the keys to a cure… and so far I'm doing nothing but screwing everything up!"

"Your friend. The chimera."

She blushed deeply. "Yeah… him_," Get a grip on yourself, Lina! Standing here, talking to the ghost of the past isn't going to help you any… or will it? Something flashed within her mind, a piece of the puzzle starting to take shape. __So far, I've met two different aspects of Zelgadis on the Astral Plane… and Rezo. I've interacted in what seemed to be memories… when I shouldn't be able to do that!_

She looked at him for a moment. "Why did you try to kill yourself, Zelgadis?"

Surprise rippled across him, and he stepped back. Coldness settled over his features, and he folded his arms. "What do you care?"

It fell out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "I care because I don't want you to kill yourself before I can put you back together!"

Lina froze, the puzzle piece not only forming in her mind, but falling into place. "That's it! That's how he did it! By the Holy Priest, he really did it!!"

He stared at her, muted confusion in his eyes. "Did what? Who?"

"I've figured out the keys to the curse!" Lina shouted. "You, you're the key. Well… one of them, at any rate,"she grinned. "See, in order to protect you from Shabanigdo and to allow you to have the chance at undoing the curse, Rezo separated you!" She started to bounce around as she explained. "You're the stone golem, which explain why you don't sleep, why your room looks like this… and why your emotions and social skills are… somewhat lacking."

He stared at her as she started pacing now, considering out loud the pieces of the spell. "The demonic form that we fought must be the Mazoku. That's the rage and the power… and also the tie-in to Shabranigdo, so he's by far the most dangerous," She paused, looking at him. "But I'll bet that you haven't met him. Anyway, that leaves… the human. But I still haven't found him…"

The stone expression hadn't changed. "You make no sense."

Lina grinned at him, undaunted. "Of course I don't make sense! You're only a third of the whole thing! Stay put. I'll be back!"

She closed her eyes in concentration, and gave the magic around her something to consider. There was a subtle shift, and suddenly a snap. In a flood of magic, she wasn't under the possession of the spell any longer. She was the one in possession of it.

She pulled free from the Astral moment and checked herself. She had plenty of time to stay astral. With a thought, she cast herself through the spell in search of the human aspect.

In retrospect, she should have known where he was. Landing at the foot of the large tree beside Rezo's tower, she looked up at the bottom of his feet.

"There you are," she said.


	19. Slayers True: Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Zelgadis carried the slender sorceress into the hotel, bracing himself for the cries of dismay from Amelia… but the girl only nodded quietly as she looked up from the table where she was sitting, setting down her cup of after-dinner tea, and rising to her feet.

"Let's go to her room… it should be…" Amelia paused for a moment, searching for an appropriate word. "Safer."

Zelgadis didn't miss the princess' reference to the events of earlier that evening, but said nothing. Instead, he turned towards the rooms, and Amelia noticed how carefully Zelgadis was carrying Lina. _He's not just holding her, she thought__. He's cradling him to her almost as if… It's so clear they like each other… why can't they just come out and say it?_

Wisely, Amelia chose to leave the bedroom door open as she and Zelgadis entered the room. Watching as Zelgadis gently settled Lina on the as yet unslept in bed, she ventured to ask. "What happened this time, Mister Zelgadis?"

He sighed softly, brushing a strand of hair out of Lina's face while seeming to be unaware that he was doing so. "She walked up to me, and the spell was trying to take her. She wasn't strong enough to stop it." He didn't tell her that the only reason she fell to it was because she had tried to apologize to him. He'd known it the second he'd seen her. The apology was there in a spell for any magician born to see. And he'd been unable to do anything but forgive her as he'd caught her.

Amelia nodded slowly. "There's really nothing we can do here, Mister Zelgadis. Gourry and I looked for a magic items store… but they said that there weren't any here. Something about an old law about magic… which is probably related to the City of Stone…"

Zelgadis looked over to Amelia. "There isn't anything we could do anyway. This isn't a standard spell. It's one of Rezo's, and I imagine that it will be near impossible to unravel."

"On the contrary, Zel… I just did," Lina said quietly, eyes open and head turned so that she could look to both the surprised chimera and the princess. She gave a half-smile and sighed, expression saddening. "You have to come back with me, Zel… there's some things you have to see and choose."

He nodded, unsurprised, then reached out for the chair by the bed. No way he was going to get in trouble all over again. Even though he knew better. In a way, he hoped it would come across as a slight tease… but he could tell by glancing back, that she genuinely regretted it.

She laughed softly, shame tingeing her cheeks a soft red. "About that… I'm sorry. I'm not…" Her gaze fell on Amelia. "Used to waking up beside anyone…"

Amelia smiled a secret little smile at Lina, recalling the conversation that took place after his departure. _Maybe there is hope for these two after all, she decided. "Well, then Mister Zelgadis…?"_

He looked to Lina, then nodded. The sorceress closed her eyes and the magic snapped both Lina and Zelgadis out of the room… and Amelia gently caught the suddenly insensate form of the chimera and let him gently down onto the bed. _Be careful, you two… she thought, chills creeping up her arms._

# Be careful, you two…

Zelgadis and Lina both heard Amelia's thought echo through the ether of the Astral Plane as they landed in the Great Hall of Rezo's tower.

"She's worried for us…" Zelgadis said quietly.

Lina sighed. "She ought to be. I may be in control of the spell that translates us into the Astral… but I'm not in control of a few of the elements here… elements that you have to meet and take control of."

He frowned, looking at her, but she continued. "Everything here but myself and the three you're going to meet is figurative… a way for you all to relate in a singular fashion. This whole place is the whole of the parts, as it were. And one of them is right over there…" She pointed to the old door that had led to his room.

He approached the door warily, opening it to come face-to-face with a mirror that was standing just inside the door. No, wait. It wasn't a mirror, but a reflection of himself. It /was/ himself.

"Zelgadis… meet… Zelgadis," Lina said. "This is my friend… the one I was talking about," she said to the other who was inside the room.

The two eyed each other, then 'her' Zelgadis frowned as the other nodded, catching on. "You are starting to make sense, Sorceress Inverse. Very well, I accept that which is to be," he held out his hand to the Zelgadis in front of him.

Only after she had nudged him did he lift his own hand and clasp that of his 'reflection.' And when he did, he felt a part of a spell snap… and the other was suddenly gone and he was grasping air. He turned in confusion to look at her.

She smiled, nodding. "Good, I was right. Come on… there's someone outside," she said, actually reaching out to take his hand and walk with him to the door.

He looked down at the slender gloved hand holding his, and found it didn't bother him at all. In fact… it was oddly… pleasing.

They were at the foot of his favorite tree, and Lina was busy hollering up at someone. "Okay, come on down… it's time."

Zelgadis watched in astonishment as a perfectly human counterpart dropped out of the tree to land before him. "You're…" he said in amazement. The eyes were the same, but the hard crystalline edge was gone, the delicateness of a human face looking somehow… alien. He was too used to the angular relative sharpness of his now-stone face.

"You, human. It's all part of Rezo's spell. So let's do it already. It's going to take both of us to defeat him," the human Zelgadis said.

"Him…?" The confused chimera replied, tearing his mind away from the contemplation of the differences from chimera to human.

In answer, the human grabbed his hand, and suddenly not only was he gone as well, but Zelgadis had a nasty feeling that he knew what came next.

Lina was afraid. This was the crucial element, the troubled issue. The Mazoku stood before them, eyes blazing, teeth bared. Here it was that the carefully laid pattern would take form… or break into a million pieces. And she didn't know what would happen either way.

There were no words between the two standing faced each other. Instead, they stood, hating the other that was a part of both. Opposite natures conflicted in the glares passed between them, a silent war of wills continuing before her eyes.

Suddenly, they both looked away, at her. She paled, taking a step backwards. "What? Don't look at me! None of this is my fault!"

The voice was ragged from disuse, grating, but his. "You. You bind me, capture me," there was no malice in the voice, nor in the words. Instead…

She stared. The Mazoku was speaking for perhaps the first time ever. And it…he was speaking to her. "Me…?" She squeaked.

"You," he stepped forwards. "You haunt me, burning through me like fire incarnate."

Lina gasped, stepping backwards, shooting a desperate look to her Zelgadis… who was only standing there behind the Mazoku, quiet and scarlet-cheeked.

The Mazoku lifted his hand up, kneeling before her. "For you, I breathe. For you, I die…"

Zelgadis quietly placed his hand on the Mazoku's shoulder, and a powerful wave of magic flared for a moment, then a brilliant white light enveloped all.

When the glare faded, she was standing in a stone chamber that she recognized as the foyer to Rezo's room. Turning, she saw Zelgadis there as well, regarding the door in dispassionate silence. "Zel… I can't go any farther. It's yours from here on out… everything is now completely up to you. I don't know what's in there… and only you can pass through that door."

He nodded, not even looking at her.

She turned away. "Go on… this is what you've wanted…" She hadn't expected that from the Mazoku… hadn't realized that the source of his emotions… his rage, his passion…

His hand touched her shoulder, then slipped off as she heard the door open, then close. She felt her control over the spell fading, slipping away from her, and she too was fading out of the Astral Plane, falling back towards her body. But for a moment, she saw the Red Priest's smile, felt the gentle touch of his thought: _Well done, Lina Inverse._

And then, there was black.


	20. Slayers True: Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Zelgadis stepped through the door, closing it behind him, and turned to view the room before him. It felt as though he had suddenly, by stepping through that door, gone backward seven years. The rational part of him argued that it wasn't possible, that he knew that this room had been destroyed in the rebirth of the Dark Lord Shabranigdo. Yet, undeniably, he was within the room, the warmth from the fire in the fireplace filling him with memories, and he walked over to look into the fire and think.

"You have made it at last, Zelgadis."

He spun to see Rezo standing there, eyes closed, staff in hand. But before he could react, Rezo held up a belaying hand. "Wait, Zelgadis. Here, in this place and at this point, I am not controlled by Shabranigdo."

Zelgadis glared at the image of the man. "You're dead, Rezo. You died when Lina Inverse destroyed Shabranigdo."

Rezo nodded. "Indeed. However, I also exist within this spell. Once the spell has reached its natural conclusion, I will be completely gone from the world. And it is this very spell that I must explain to you."

Zelgadis shook his head, leaning against the mantle of the fireplace, allowing the heat to distract him briefly. But at Rezo's words, he sighed. "What you did to me, Rezo…"

"What I did was try to grant you the chance to reclaim yourself, Zelgadis," Rezo replied softly. "It was never my intention that you pay the price that I was born unwilling to pay. Had I known what would have happened, would I have taken you from the village? I cannot know. As for here and now… I wish to offer my apologies."

The youth waved his free hand across the room. "Funny way to do that, Rezo. Is all of this… truly necessary? This false surrounding? This memory of a place better left forgotten?"

Rezo regarded Zelgadis for a moment, and then shook his head. "It is not, but the truth of the spell is far sharper than you think it may be. Where you stand is within no space or time. It exists purely within your own mind, heart, and soul. Within this place of Self is the power and the choice to forever alter your life."

Zelgadis eyed Rezo untrustingly, moving away from the fireplace. "What do you mean, Rezo? Stop talking to me in riddles."

"Forgive me, Zelgadis. I am but a Priest, and that is not a riddle." Rezo lifted his staff, bringing it down with the clang that had always made Zelgadis cringe when he was younger. It still made his stomach twist, even now when he knew that Rezo was dead and uncontrolled by Shabanigdo.

The room rippled, the illusion fading in a circular sweep out from the staff, revealing a vast expanse of nothingness. They stood on what seemed to be a rocky outcropping which had a set of stone stairs that led up to a door in the middle of absolute nowhere. Zelgadis eyed it suspiciously for a moment. "Do you really expect me to fall for that, Rezo?"

The sightless priest sighed, looking with his other-sight to the youth before him. "That is the doorway back to yourself. It is, in essence, the very end of the spell."

Zelgadis folded his arms, skeptical. "Why should I believe that?"

"You must only believe yourself, Zelgadis. I never intended for you to become my enemy. I was a priest; called to the service of Cepheid... by what right or knowledge did I have to raise you? You were the last of my family... the family that I had abandoned in anger and frustration. Perhaps it was that anger and shame of abandoning them which allowed Shabranigdo to gain such power over me. I regret now what I had done, the severing my family ties because I could not see. I made many mistakes, but I would have liked to think that taking you as my own was not one of those errors."

Zelgadis scowled, a heated retort flying to his lips. "You had a damned strange way of showing it, Rezo. Xolf and Rodimus had more to do with my raising than you did. You were always somewhere trying to recover your eyes, doing research with Eris."

Rezo turned away. "Yes, and I regret that as well. There is so much that I wish to say, but heated words and weak explanations will never complete the spell."

The chimera almost argued the point, but he was keenly aware that he must soon be running out of time in the Astral Plane... and without Lina, he wasn't certain he could get back. "Fine."

Rezo gestured with the staff, and suddenly, the three other selves were standing there. The stone golem, the human, the Mazoku. "Each of these is you. These are the three distilled that form you as you are now. What each has to offer is what you are in whole. Your human self... I regret to say, has not the power of the family blood. Your mother was not an inherently magical being... however, to a point, you were. Even as a human, you had the restorative powers of a cleric. But, that was all you had. Had you been raised in the town, perhaps you would have exceeded my own abilities as a Priest of Cepheid. But you would never have been able to manage a sword."

Zelgadis considered. He'd never been ill... he remembered that. Even when he was human, other kids would get sick, and he would feel his magic reaching out from within to keep him well. But that was the only time his magic answered him. How many times had he tried to master the simplest fireball? Sometimes, if he had been concentrating particularly hard on it, he could summon the tiniest puff of smoke, but never the fire.

"The plague that killed our family had no chance with you. But that was the extent of your abilities, Zelgadis. I wonder if you would have been happy with the fact that you could only cast healing magics?"

The chimera saw himself, a human Priest wandering the world, curing and healing. "I would have done what was needed," he admitted grudgingly.

"But you would always be giving yourself. After a while... one grows tired of forever giving." Rezo shook his head. "The stone golem allows your strength and resistance to injury. The Mazoku is the source of your current power."

"I still don't see what this has to do with my cure," Zelgadis said, sighing and shaking his head. So far, Rezo had only explained what each element that formed him was good for.

"Your cure is before you, Zelgadis. You have the chance to choose right here, right now. What will you become when you walk through that door? For when you walk through that door, you will become what you truly wish yourself to be. Completely Human? It is entirely up to you. But you needed to know the truth of each aspect. The cure lies within you, Zelgadis. You must choose for yourself what you will become."

Zelgadis glared at Rezo. "Why should I believe you? After all this time? Why should I believe?"

Rezo smiled faintly. "That, again, is up to you." He looked up and over, towards the door. "Your time grows short, Zelgadis. My time is finished. I wish that it were not so, and that I had more time to spend with you. Instead, all that I can do is grant you now the knowledge..."

The Red Priest raised his staff. Zelgadis cringed, fully expecting that horrible clang one last time, but instead, Rezo vanished into mist, leaving Zelgadis to look at the counterparts in silence.

Something suddenly embraced Zelgadis, and a light shot up all around him that was so bright he had to close his eyes. For a moment, for a brilliant breath-taking and soul-aching moment, Zelgadis felt Rezo's soul touch his, felt the gentle love, and the intense shame at what had been done. For a fiery instant, Zelgadis saw precisely the life that he would have been called towards, and the knowledge so filled him that he opened his eyes and looked at his counterparts, he stepped forward and extended his hand towards one of them.

Touching, turning, opening the door.

His choice was made.

He stepped through.


	21. Slayers True: Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Lina opened her eyes, finding herself once again on Amelia's bed. This time, she checked for Zelgadis... and sure enough, he was beside her. He wasn't 'back' yet, so she simply sat up and looked over to Amelia. "Hey, Amelia…"

Amelia looked up, and her eyes widened. "Miss Lina! What's happening?"

Lina sighed. "I wish I knew, Amelia. It's all entirely in Zelgadis' hands now. He has to unravel the last part of the spell on his own. I can't help him anymore."

"Poor Mister Zelgadis..." Amelia whispered, looking to the chimera, who to unknowing eyes, would think that he was simply sleeping.

A glow formed lightly around him, a glow that one didn't even need mage-sight to see. Amelia gasped, pointing to him, and Lina held her breath, watching. Either Zelgadis had unraveled the spell... or she was watching what happens when a magic-user extends themselves into the Astral and never returns. _One or the other… what happens next? Lina thought worriedly._

The glow began to shimmer around him, a sensation of magic beyond Lina's understanding filling the room. Amelia gasped, recognizing the source of the power, and she looked at Lina in startlement. "This... this is the working of Cepheid's power! This is the white magic that has been sealed! But how....?"

The shimmer became brilliant, filling the room with a purifying light, hurting Lina's eyes, and she was forced to close them, lest she be harmed. The air took on a sharpness, as if she were standing somewhere very cold, feeling the crystal-cold air burn her lungs. _Cepheid's power... if this is what my sister holds within her grasp... I have even more reason to fear her!_

When the light faded, Lina opened her eyes as soon as she could, and looked to Zelgadis, to make certain that he was still there.

He was, still encased by that shimmering glow. With a sigh, Lina shook her head. _If even Cepheid's magic wasn't strong enough..._

As she watched, the glow began to fade, dissipating into nothingness, and leaving Zelgadis there, unchanged.

Lina put her head down, lifting a hand to her eyes. _It didn't work... all that, and he's still... unchanged._

There was a quiet sound of a chair against the floor, and Lina looked up to see Amelia standing with tears in her eyes. "I'm... sorry, Miss Lina... I need to... I'll go get Mister Gourry…" The girl turned and ran out of the room.

Lina sighed. _Poor kid. She was hoping for this just as hard as I was, I guess. A shifting on the bed caused her to look down at Zelgadis. He was moving, coming to. __Time to face up..._

He opened his eyes slowly, taking a few deep breaths. She reached out and put her hand on his chest. "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Zel..." An unfamiliar pain tore through her, and she looked down, away from him.

He lifted a hand, resting it on hers. She lifted her eyes to see that he was looking at her calmly, and somehow she couldn't look directly at him. She knew that he'd see it in her eyes, and she couldn't stand seeing the pain in his.

He reached up with his other hand, touching her cheek and lifting her head some to look at her. "You're crying."

Was she? She lifted her free hand, touching her cheeks and finding her fingers wet. He was right. She _was crying. "I... I'm sorry. I can't help it... you wanted your cure so badly..."_

He sat up underneath her hand, pulling her suddenly towards him in a fierce embrace. It was so sudden and unexpected that it broke her reserve, and she started to sob. "It's not fair! You worked so hard for it...."

He gentled some, lifting a hand to caress her hair. "Lina... it didn't fail. The spell worked."

She sat up, looking at him through tear-filled eyes. "But..." Suddenly, she could see little differences in him. The angular lines were softer, the little rocks along his face not as sharply defined. Her eyes widened, and he smiled self-consciously. She reached up, touching his hair and finding that it wasn't sharp anymore. It wasn't as soft as her hair... but it wasn't wire anymore. "What... happened, Zel?"

"Rezo's spell wasn't a cure in the way we understood it to be. What it was more was a cure for my anger and ignorance of the situation. If I had been human, I'd be a priest, and nothing more. Without the fragment of Mazoku... I would have no powers beyond those meager white spells that a human could use. I'd be more powerless than Filia was. Without the golem... I could never survive some of our adventures, never be able to support a sword." Zelgadis said quietly.

"I... I see. But what now, Zel?" Lina asked, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Now, I adjust, accept myself for who I am, and move on with my life. I've wasted too long in the past, fighting what I am. It's time that I...grew up."

She sat back, looking at him. "You have changed. Just a bit... not enough to really notice... but still..."

He gave her his little half smile, then leaned in to kiss her on the lips.

It wouldn't have been so bad, Lina reflected later, if Gourry hadn't chosen that exact moment to walk into the room and grin. "Way to go, Zel!"

The two jumped apart, as if caught doing something extremely untoward, and Lina felt a furious blush hit her cheeks. "Gourry Gabriev! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"But the door was wide open..."

"That's no excuse!!"

Zelgadis watched as Lina threw her slipper at the blonde, and idly wondered if there was a slipper-summoning spell that Lina used for just such a purpose. He'd have to ask her later, when there wasn't such a commotion. The whole situation struck him as entirely amusing, and he chuckled softly.

Lina turned, surprised, looking to Zelgadis. "Zel…? What's so funny?"

Amelia appeared in the doorway, eyes wide. "Is Mister Zelgadis… okay…?" After all, everyone knew that Zelgadis didn't laugh. His sense of humor was dryer than the vast expanse of desert, wasn't it?

Zelgadis stood, shaking his head as he collected himself. "I'm fine, Amelia. If you don't mind, I'm going to get something to eat."

Lina paused. Zelgadis, going to get food? Without being badgered into it? There must have been more changes than she had first thought. "This I've gotta see, guys. And now that you mention it, Zel… food sounds pretty good. What time is it, anyway?"

"Mid-afternoon, Miss Lina…" Amelia said, moving so that Zelgadis could leave the room… and watching him as he walked down the hall. "Wow… the changes are so… subtle…"

"Aren't they?" Lina said, giving Amelia a slight bump as she passed. "I don't honestly know what I expected… but he made his choice."

"Choice?" Gourry asked as he came out of the room, still rubbing his head from where Lina had smacked him with her slipper.

"Yeah," Lina replied as she started to walk down the hall. "Come on, I'll explain it over lunch… if you promise not to think too hard, Gourry."

Amelia and Gourry looked at each other, and then followed Lina out into the dining area. To their surprise, Zelgadis was sitting at a table, a plate of food in front of him. The three sat down, and waiters started bringing out trays of food.

"I ordered ahead… I hope you don't mind, Lina," Zelgadis said after he set down his cup.

Amazed, Lina eyed her still-chimeric companion and shook her head. "Oh, that's fine, Zelgadis. But we want to know what happened." She took up a fork and speared a vegetable that she couldn't readily identify and took a bite.

He nodded and began to explain what Rezo had said to him in-between bites. Eventually, everyone was eating and asking questions, learning for themselves precisely what the spell had been… and what Zelgadis' new changes ultimately meant.

Leaning back and listening, Lina decided that it wasn't at all bad that he'd made the choice he had. The minor changes would make it easier to interact… and on the whole, he seemed a lot more at ease with himself.

By the time all the questions were asked, and everyone had a full idea of the past week's events, it was close to midnight and Amelia was ineffectually hiding her exhaustion. She'd been awake the entire time that Lina and Zelgadis were caught in the spell. Amelia rose to her feet and looked at everyone. "Let's all call it a night. It's been a very long day and I'm tired."

Nodding, the others stood as well, and various goodnights were passed between them as they all headed to their rooms.


	22. Slayers True: Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Lina lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd counted all her mental sheep, and then moved on to counting the dimly lit planks of wood in the ceiling. She decided that sleep wasn't remotely near, so she got up and dressed silently, throwing her cloak over her shoulders and opening the window to vanish into the night with a half-thought levitation spell.

She wasn't aware of the aquamarine eyes in another window of the hotel that watched her leave.

She landed in the center of the little grove surrounded by trees and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the night's solace. The breeze gently blew at her hair, and she sighed softly. Too much swirled around in her mind, and she found herself repeating her actions of the other night, drawing her sword and stepping easily into the first form.

She considered the implications of the City of Stone, stepping through the motions, feeling the sword-work help release some of the energy. It was a pity that she couldn't blast something, Lina reflected. There was no better stress-reliever than a decent-sized fireball. She stepped into the next frame, her thoughts shifting to Zelgadis and the… relationship that was suddenly becoming very tangible. True, she had always liked him, but out of respect, she hadn't said anything to anyone. When Phibrizo had taken Gourry, she'd thought perhaps that she'd been falling in love with the blonde swordsman.

She'd proven herself wrong, however. She'd been wrong before. And now, that which she had never considered was becoming a heart-stopping reality. _Zelgadis… She stumbled in the form, distracting herself with the memory of how he had looked at her earlier, just before he'd… kissed her._

She stopped, re-centered her thoughts and began the steps again. All too soon, however, her thoughts turned to Zelgadis and she stumbled again_. Damn! What's wrong with me? She thought. __I can't even concentrate anymore! I've gone from powerful to hopeless in one kiss!_

She put her sword back at her hip and turned away, walking over to lean on a tree. The biggest concern that she had right now was the fact that Zelgadis was suddenly extremely distracting to her. She knew that there would be times that she'd need every bit of her attention on the matter at hand… but she wasn't sure that she would be able to do it. She'd seen all too clearly just how distracted she was when she'd tripped in her forms. What on earth would she do if he were threatened? _Zelgadis, threatened? In that stone body of his? I've only seen him bleed once… and that was terrifying, that pool of blood underneath him… the Sword of Light may be the only thing that can kill him… but other things can hurt._

It occurred to her that she wasn't alone, and she opened her eyes to see him standing in the center of the little grove, aquamarine eyes turned to her. She met and held his gaze for a moment before blushing and looking away.

"I wanted to thank you," his voice came to her quietly, and she looked back up towards him.

"Thank… me?" She echoed, her voice small.

He nodded. "Yes, to thank you for working so hard to understand what Rezo had done… for helping me…"

She blushed again, looking down. "You don't have to thank me, Zel. I did it because you're my friend… because…" _Because I love him… that's why. But why can't I say it?_

Her voice trailed off and she saw his shoes come into view. She looked shyly up at him, and he smiled softly. "There's a lot that I want to say, but I'm not sure how."

_Oh, for crying out loud, what's wrong with me? It's now or never, Lina Inverse. Kiss him, say it… do something or you just might lose him. Holding her breath for an instant, she leaned up to kiss him. He brought his arms around her, responding in a fashion that Lina had only hoped for._

They stood, locked in the embrace until it occurred to him that he ought to let her go before something untoward happened… and he might be holding her too tightly, so he stepped back, releasing her with a guilty look. Confused, she looked to him. "Zelgadis? What is it?"

"I…" he smiled sheepishly. "I didn't want to hold on to you too tightly…" _Or do anything that would destroy this moment…he thought, all too aware of the fierce emotions within him. The Mazoku was a dangerous passion that even he was uncertain of._

Lina laughed softly. "Zel… I'm not made of glass. I'm not made of stone either… but I won't break if you hold me too tight. I might complain, or even swat you… though I imagine that will still hurt." Suddenly the memory of the first time she swatted him came washing over her, and she laughed again, softer. _It's so easy to forget that he's made of stone… she thought, then looked to him. "Zel… why me?"_

He blinked, considering that question for a few moments before answering. "You're easygoing… yet there's a fire of life there that no-one can deny. You're unpredictable… uncontainable, like a candle's flame…" His voice trailed off as he realized how sappy he must sound… and that he'd equated her to a fire twice. _Maybe it's those fireballs of hers… "And you're one of the rare few who makes no judgements of appearances."_

Lina blushed furiously. She'd always been the fiery one in the family, what with her red hair and crimson eyes… Her sister Luna was the one with dark hair and a cool exterior that nothing ever seemed to crack… Luna hadn't even shown emotion when she had announced that she was going off to be the Knight of Cepheid, and promptly vanished. Lina had been the one to rage and fight her way out of the family, out of the ties that bound… "I… I'm not anything…" 

Embarrassment dissolved her ability to protest, and as she looked down, he smiled faintly. "Lina, you're a whole lot to me. I may not be good at showing it, or saying it, but you are." He was aware that he was blushing too, the heat of his cheeks an almost pleasant distraction from the heat of the moment before.

Lina shook her head at herself. "I'm acting like some silly love-struck twit, aren't I? The mere thought of your smile can distract me so badly that I end up tripping over my sword. And I don't know what to do about it."

He brushed a stray lock of hair off of her shoulder and looked to her. "Why do anything about it? If we just… be ourselves… then we can see where this is going. I guess that's one thing I have Rezo to thank for. His spell is the whole reason that I have the courage to tell you any of this. I've loved you for a long time… and it took the Mazoku within me to put it into words."

She flung herself into him, a fiery bundle of red hair and tears. "I was so afraid that you wouldn't come back… or that you'd come back so changed that I wouldn't know who you were when I looked into your eyes…"

Her sudden embrace stunned him briefly, but he recovered and held her for a moment, face buried in her hair. She still smelled of cinnamon and glowing embers, an intoxicating combination that left him a little lightheaded. "It's over now… and we ought to get some sleep, or Amelia and Gourry will start to talk."

Lina smirked into his shoulder, then lifted her head to look up at him. "Like they aren't already. I think they've known for longer than we did." _After all… it was Amelia who sort of grabbed me by the seat of my pants and kicked me into this. I'm still not sure if I should fireball her… or thank her. And this will make Sylphiel a very happy girl. Her precious Gourry…_

"Isn't that how it always goes?" Zelgadis asked, interrupting her thoughts and pulling gently out of her arms to they could walk back to the hotel.

"Maybe… hey! You're not getting away that easily," Lina said, grabbing for his hand and lacing her fingers in his.

He paused in mid-step, looking at their hands, then smiled. Yes, he could definitely grow accustomed to that…


	23. Slayers True: Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Morning came, cheerfully dawning through the window of Amelia's room. Only this morning, she rolled over and tried to forget that it was time to get up. The normally chipper, cheerful, and otherwise bubbly little Warrior of Justice – wasn't.

Really, it wasn't that she wasn't happy for Miss Lina and Mister Zelgadis… but it was a lot of work. She knew that it was a passing crush on Mister Zelgadis… and that Miss Lina was a much better match for him… And Mister Gourry had Miss Sylphiel… who, in Amelia's opinion was eminently perfect for the blonde swordsman. It just left Amelia… on her own. Again.

She kicked the covers off and dressed without her usual enthusiasm. Setting her hairbrush down, she opened the door to her room and headed out into the dining area.

Lina and Gourry were already arguing over the food on the table, Zelgadis watching quietly as he sipped his coffee. Yes, it was nothing more than your average breakfast. There was no indication that anything had happened the past few days.

"Gourry, if you're that hungry, order another plate and leave mine alone!" Lina snapped, grabbing her sticky bun back from Gourry and putting it back on her plate as she returned what Amelia thought might be eggs.

"Well, if you aren't going to eat it…" Zelgadis said and reached out to not only swipe the sticky bun off of her plate, but to take a bite out of it with a devilish glint in his eyes.

Lina dropped her fork. "I can't win!"

Before Amelia could react, Lina sighed and looked to the girl. "Oh good… Amelia, we may as well get this over with early on… is there anything on my plate that you might want?"

Amelia shook her head as she walked up to the table. "No, Miss Lina… I think I just want a muffin and some tea…"

Lina nodded, looking at the waiter who had just returned with more food. "Add a muffin and tea to that… and another sticky bun," she added the last with a look at Zelgadis as he finished the last mouthful of his pilfered breakfast.

He picked up his coffee mug as Amelia sat and took a drink from it before noting the obvious. "Amelia, you're not as cheerful as you normally are. Are you well?"

The princess squirmed as she tried to think of an answer, but Lina came to her rescue. "She's probably tired, Zel. She's done a lot to help out lately. I wasn't the only one working on Rezo's spell, right Amelia?"

Amelia looked at Lina for a moment. "Right, Miss Lina…" Her muffin and tea arrived, and she ate it quietly and thoughtfully as she watched Lina eat her new sticky bun before anyone else could grab it.

An hour or so later, the little group was standing in the center of the city, Lina looking disgusted at the lack of magic shops. She'd been told that it was an old law that had originated with the building of the city many hundreds of years ago. The mayor couldn't tell her anything else, so she'd left the City Hall, lost in thought. _Most likely it has something to do with the City of Stone… and even though we aren't looking for a cure anymore, there's still some unfinished business down there. I know I won't get Amelia in there… and I can't cast enough white magic…_

"We have to go back to the City of Stone," Lina announced without preamble. Her cape had the dramatic sense of timing to flare out behind her, and for a moment, Amelia was struck with terror.

"No, Miss Lina! Whatever is down there should be left alone!" Amelia protested.

Lina turned to the Warrior of Justice. "Amelia, there's a lot of stagnant black magic down there and I can't just leave an evil spirit with the ability to one day be found by someone with the wrong idea. What if someone like Eris came along and found it? Or what if a child in this city cast a fireball and attracted its attentions? Could you live with yourself, knowing that by your inaction, you had allowed that to happen?"

When Amelia didn't answer, Lina turned and started walking towards the road and the entrance to the underground city she had made. "Well, I can't. One way or the other, I'm going to get rid of it. Even if I have to absorb it."

"Lina, you can't!" Zelgadis shouted as he started after her. "That much black magic… it would kill you!"

Amelia stood frozen as she heard Lina's reply. "I'd rather it be me alone than an entire city, Zel… there's too many people here to risk."

Lina had flown down into the City of Stone, followed by Zelgadis before Amelia and Gourry could even catch up. Now, staring down into the depths of blackness, Amelia shivered. Her friends were down there… down in the city that was anathema to everything she knew.

Lina had 'listened' to the magic, opened her mind to the source of the evil, following it from the underground room to the source as best she could. To her abject shock, it had not emanated from the building that she thought it had. In a surprising twist through an existing lay line, it originated in the fountain beside the church.

_The fountain… it's the only thing still alive down here… and there was something in the old story… how the insane sorcerer had drowned himself in the fountain… Lina recalled. Wide-eyed and uneasy, she peered into the fountain for a body, but to her relief, there wasn't one._

A hand was placed on her shoulder, and she hollered as she spun around to see Zelgadis standing there with one eyebrow raised. "Lina?"

She gasped for breath, waves of panic washing over her. "Don't… don't scare me like that, Zel! I thought you could have been the sorcerer who drowned himself in this fountain. It's connected to the pool of magic down there… it may well be the source."

"If that's the case, then it's easy." He backed her up with him, pushed her aside slightly, put out his hands and began to cast. "Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite. Everlasting flame of blue, let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the Infinite…Ra-Tilt!"

The spell hit the fountain, the water rippling in the force of the blast. And undeniably, Lina felt something change. She took off, heading down into that room again, and when she got to the door, came to a terrified halt. The Ra-Tilt had separated the tortured soul from the fountain… and the pool of black magic had claimed it as its own, coming terrifyingly into life as she watched.

Zelgadis cursed under his breath beside her, and inwardly, she agreed. _Guess there's no way out of this… Taking positions beside each other, they both drew blades, throwing out their hands and simultaneously casting. "Elmekia Lance!"_

The dual hits scored some success, and the two separated, becoming two targets now instead of one. Zelgadis wasted no time in casting the Astral Vine, and Lina considered her chances of learning that for a moment before throwing another Elmekia Lance at the creature.

Lina could see that this was going to be a long and drawn out battle. Bringing her hands into place, she called out a spell. "Lord of the Darkness and the Four Worlds, I call upon you, grant me all the power that you possess!" She sheathed her sword and was preparing to cast the Laguna Blade when a familiar voice caught her attention, and only out of reflex, she threw up a defense spell instead. _It's a good thing I called the boost…_

"You pitiful twisted creature, not of this world... by the Light of Purity I possess, I bid thee, begone to the nexus of our two worlds!" Amelia appeared in the doorway; frightfully pale, but blue eyes set in her determination. "MEGIDO FLARE!"

A brilliant white spilled away from the raven-haired girl, swirling around the blackness and buffeting Lina through her defense shield. She closed her eyes against the brilliance, hoping that Zelgadis had managed to get his own defense spell cast in time. 


	24. Slayers True: Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The brilliance died down, the spell finishing its job, and Lina peeked open her eyes to see the black pool of magic dissipating. That was a relief. And Amelia was standing in the doorway, shivering uncontrollably, but she'd come through in the last of it.

"Is… is… everyone okay…?" Amelia mustered the courage to ask, looking into the room from the doorway. Lina was there, crouched on one side of the room, her defense shield fading now that it was safe.

Lina stood from her crouch, looking around the room. "Zel…?" It was hard to see now, and she lifted her hand and cast her quick-and-dirty Lighting spell. "Source of all power, light which burns."

The resultant sphere of light was not as brilliant as she could have cast, but it enabled them to see clearly enough to find Zelgadis across the room. He was sitting on the floor, looking rather annoyed.

Lina and Amelia looked to each other, then Lina moved towards Zelgadis first. "Zel…? What's wrong? What is it?"

"Are you hurt, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked as the two neared him.

Aquamarine eyes flashed annoyance again, and he looked up to the girls, scowling. "I twisted my ankle." It didn't hurt so much as it injured his pride and annoyed the utter hell out of him. He never got injured like this. It just wasn't something that happened to him. 

The tension and the fear crept out of Lina in the form of a giggle. It earned her an annoyed look from Zelgadis, and she giggled even harder. Amelia turned to the sorceress in surprise, and Lina sat down beside the wounded chimera, laughing.

"_What is so funny?" Zelgadis asked with an edge of irritation._

Lina snickered, resting a hand on his arm. "You twisted your ankle, Zel… You. Of all of us. I thought you might be hurt by that forming Mazoku, or singed by Amelia's spell, but…" she giggled again, softer. "You twisted your _ankle…" she collapsed into laughter, unable to help herself._

A moment passed as Zelgadis thought about it, then he too started to chuckle. He could suddenly see it, the reason why Lina was leaning on him laughing helplessly. He, of all people, the chimera who was practically indestructible by most standards… had managed to twist his ankle. It was absurd. 

It took three more seconds for Amelia to get it, and she started to laugh, managing a shaky "Poor Mister Zelgadis…" as she sat to cast a healing spell on his ankle as she laughed.

"Huh? What happened? What am I missing?" Gourry said as he came into the room and saw the three on the floor laughing.

Zelgadis looked over to the swordsman. "I twisted my ankle…"

Gourry's eyes got wide and he looked concerned as he walked towards them. "Gosh, that's terrible. But why are you all laughing? I don't get it."

It only set the trio laughing all the harder as they sat on the floor of the room.

They exited the small church, stepping out into the street and looking around. Silence filled the enclosed city, and Lina looked reflexively to the fountain.

The water was gone, the stone dry and aged.

She walked over, looking in, and shivered involuntarily. There was still no sign of the sorcerer who had supposedly drowned himself within its waters, but there was still an eerie sensation about the fountain that Lina couldn't quite put her finger on.

There was a rumble, the ground shifting, and suddenly, for a moment, the sun was shining and people were bustling down the street. Then it was dark and stone once again.

Confused, the group stopped and looked around themselves. It was Amelia who spotted the figure, pointing with a loud exclamation, "Look!"

Standing by one of the stone people was a young man, a sad look in his eyes. He raised his hand in salute as they approached. Lina folded her arms and looked at him, crimson eyes blazing. "Who are you?"

The reply was softly voiced, "I could ask the same of you. But it doesn't matter, as I sense that you are those who have destroyed the last of the Curse of Ishii. I have been the Keeper of Ishii for many, many years.And I thank you from releasing me. But you must go now.The spell is shifting, and soon the city will fall in upon itself, the memories of the people finally released."

Lina frowned. "You're the sorcerer! You drowned in the fountain…"

He shook his head. "No… that was what was said to protect the city. There was no fountain before I cast the final spell to bind the black magic to me. I became the fountain, a vessel for containing the power of the black magic that I could not control."

Lina's eyes widened as she considered the ramifications of what he had said. "So you turned all the people into stone… by accident?"

He nodded silently.

Amelia drew up short, looking to the statue that the young man stood next to. "Are they still alive? Can we help them?"

He shook his head. "No, they are not alive as you would understand it. Perhaps you," he said, looking at Zelgadis, "would understand. They are souls placed into stone, unable to die, unable to live. They watch, and remember. And soon, the stone will fall, and they will at last be able to rest."

Zelgadis nodded slowly, he understood all too well what the Keeper was telling him. These people were worse off than he had been as a full chimera… they couldn't move or interact. "And we've been seeing their memories as they are released from the stone?"

The other nodded. "Yes, it is even as you say. But you must leave now. There is nothing here that will assist you. Time is short, you must leave."

As his last sentence was spoken, the ground began to shift again, several stone people falling over to shatter, releasing images of a sunny day and busy city streets. Amelia blinked, disoriented by the released memories, and Gourry grabbed her around the waist and leapt for the exit above, leaping from stone to stone.

Zelgadis closed his mind to all but the truth of leaving and cast his Ray-Wing around himself and Lina, lifting into the air for the exit. As he looked down, he saw the figure lift a hand again, and he did so in return.

Landing outside, Zelgadis released both Lina and the Ray-Wing spell, spun around as a ball of power built up in his hand. Slamming his hand down onto the ground, he finished the silent spell: "Vigarthagaia!"

The ground shook slightly, a precisely controlled earthquake rippling through the ground, and the entrance to the lower city collapsed into the hillside and sealed away the City of Stone. When he turned, three pairs of eyes were on him.

"Gosh, Zel. I didn't know that you knew that one…" Lina said, considering.

The shaman chimera gave a half-shrug. "You never asked me."

Lina stared at him. "I never asked you? Oh, for crying out loud, fine! What _else can you cast, Zel?"_

There was a brief pause as he considered, and a truly devilish smile crept across his lips and into his eyes. "_That is a secret."_

Lina's scream of rage could be heard all the way into town, and Zelgadis took off running before she could catch up to him. 

Amelia and Gourry stood there looking after the two who were vanishing towards town with bemused expressions. "You know, Amelia, I think that Zelgadis is going to be just perfect for Lina, don't you?"

Amelia nodded absently as she watched a fireball head towards Zelgadis in the distance. "It won't ever be dull…" She winced as she watched the fireball singe the chimera slightly. _It's a good thing Miss Lina doesn't keep a mace like Miss Filia did… but then, Miss Lina uses her slipper…_

Gourry clapped a hand onto Amelia's shoulder, chuckling softly. "With Lina around, life is _never dull. Come on, Amelia. Let's go save him before she does something that she'll regret later."_


	25. Slayers True: Chapter 25

# Chapter 25

Lina had finally chased down Zelgadis and tackled the still-laughing chimera with a combination leap and levitation spell. Rolling from the impact, they had become hopelessly tangled in his cape, and the resultant landing had left them breathlessly close. In a sheer moment of abandon, she'd kissed him, which almost had led to her completely forgetting about Amelia, Gourry, and the fact that she'd not had lunch and it was getting close to dinner time.

It was her stomach that interrupted yet another kiss, and he'd started to laugh softly. Embarrassed, Lina had untangled herself from his cape and stood, trying to pick all the leaves out of her hair.

It hadn't worked.

When they got back to the hotel, Amelia immediately reached out and plucked a leaf from Lina's hair without comment.

Lina blushed violently. "It's not like that! I… I kind of…" she started fidgeting her hands, "I ran into him… and we got tangled up in his cloak and fell and…" she blushed even harder.

Zelgadis stepped up, resting his hand on Amelia's shoulder. The princess turned to look at him, and she could see without a doubt that nothing untoward had occurred_. Shame on me! Miss Lina would have fried him if he'd tried anything… not that he would. Mister Zelgadis is a perfect gentleman, and I shouldn't think badly of either one of them! "Did either of you get hurt…?" She asked._

He gave her shoulder a brief squeeze before shaking his head and allowing his hand to slip off of her shoulder and onto the door of the hotel's dining area, pushing it open. "No… though her fireballs are nothing to sneeze at."

Amelia turned to Lina in all seriousness. "Miss Lina, you really shouldn't throw fireballs at Mister Zelgadis."

Lina held up her hand to Amelia. "Amelia, can we have this argument after dinner?" She walked through the door that Zelgadis was holding open, following Gourry. "You'd better not eat it all, Gourry!"

Amelia went to follow, resting a hand on the door to hold it open, but paused as she looked to Zelgadis. "And you really ought not to tease her like that, Mister Zelgadis. Miss Lina could really hurt you."

He gave a little half-smile, then looked to her. "Amelia… I wanted to thank you."

She blinked, frozen to the spot. "Thank me for what, Mister Zelgadis?"

His voice was low enough for only Amelia to hear. "I know what you said to Lina… and what you did was the best thing a friend could ever do. I'm glad you're my friend."

She looked down, blushing deeply. "Mister Zelgadis… it would have been wrong for me to try and get in the way… the Royal Family of Saillune hardly has a private existence… and I just couldn't force you into that."

"You're a rare and gentle soul, Amelia. Never forget that. It's a quality that shines out from you. Don't lose that as you move on."

She looked up as he stepped through the doorway. _No… he's definitely not for me. I see that so completely now… but who is? She shook her head and walked into the room after him._

Dinner had been uneventful, and afterwards, Lina had wandered off to go sit in the hot spring. She lay back against the stone seat and sighed softly. _What am I going to do about Zelgadis…? She shivered at the memory of that kiss, even though the water was quite warm__. It could get really awkward… and I don't want to hurt him… but… she sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. Relationships were so difficult, she reflected. She wasn't that type of girl, but there was something electric that passed back and forth between she and him… She sat up and pulled the black ribbon out of her hair, setting it to the side of the water._

While Lina was busy washing her hair, Zelgadis was laying on his bed, considering very carefully the direction that things were taking. He was still stunned at the force of the passions and emotions that rippled through him, he'd been ill-prepared to have been alone with Lina caught up against him by his cloak. That crisp scent of green wood kissed by flames had intoxicated him again, and it was only her hunger that saved themselves both from making a mistake. But how did she feel about it? She needed to know that he wasn't like that at all…

"Hey Zelgadis… not that it's any of my business or anything, but I think that you and Lina make a really great couple," Gourry said from where he was resting.

Zelgadis felt a blush tinge his cheeks. "And just think, there was a time when I thought you were the one she was in love with. She cried so hard when Phibrizo took you away."

"She's like a little sister to me, Zel. I have to take care of her until someone else comes along to do it," Gourry replied, his eyes closed. "My heart belongs to Sylphiel."

"I doubt she'd want to marry me, Gourry. I'd never get her in the dress."

Gourry startled Zelgadis by starting to laugh. "Yeah, you weren't with us that time, I remember! Man, you should have seen her! She was absolutely gorgeous."

Zelgadis sat up, looking over to Gourry. "What are you talking about?"  
Gourry lay there, recounting the story of how Lina had to pretend to marry Prince Hallas and couldn't bring herself to kiss him at the end. He told the whole thing, from beginning to end, and by the time he was done, both of them were laughing.

"So you're telling me that if I give her enough money, she'll wear the dress, but she won't kiss me?" Zelgadis chuckled.

"Nah… she's already kissed you," Gourry replied easily.

Zelgadis blushed. There was that little fact now, wasn't there? "Well… yes," he said awkwardly. 

Gourry yawned and rolled over. "So where's the concern? Don't second-guess yourself too much, Zelgadis. You do that and you defeat yourself before you can ever start."

Zelgadis blinked at Gourry for a moment, then smiled to himself. Gourry was right, he decided. Laying back down on the bed, he fell asleep considering.

Lina collapsed into her bed, still uncertain how she was going to handle her fierce attraction to Zelgadis. She didn't even understand where it had come from. It wasn't just that she hadn't allowed herself to feel that way… she hadn't felt that way about him until Rezo's spell had caught her. No, that wasn't right. She knew him so much better now… had fallen in love with him the moment that she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was so much more than he thought he was.

"Miss Lina…?" Amelia whispered in the darkness.

"Yeah?" Lina replied, jolted out of her thoughts.

"I'm glad that you and Mister Zelgadis are working out…"

Lina blinked in the darkness. It suddenly dawned on her, how truly young Amelia was, lost in the face of the world. The princess hadn't had an easy childhood… her mother killed by assassins, her older sister running away… Lina had even heard that it was Amelia herself who had found her mother first. _And now, here she is, out in a world that doesn't care, travelling with friends… and yet, somehow, Amelia is still terribly alone… Lina shook her head in the quiet. "Amelia, don't you dare. You're a dear friend to all of us. Don't you dare go around being alone all the time. You may fool Gourry, and you may manage to fool Zelgadis some of the time, but you won't fool me. You're only as alone as you let yourself be, and you have three friends right close to you."_

There was silence from the other bed for a moment, then a quiet little voice. "I know, Miss Lina… It's just hard…"

"I never said it wasn't, Amelia. Growing up is a long, hard road. And you've come a long way from the first time we traveled. You're coming into your own, and you're going to be the best Queen that Sailune ever had. And somewhere out there is an incredibly lucky young man who is waiting for you."

There was the sound of Amelia turning over in the bed. "Do you really think so, Miss Lina?"

"No, Amelia. I know it. Now let's get some sleep. We can talk about it in the morning," Lina replied. _It's true… I do know it. I don't know how, or why… but I have this feeling…_

Lina fell asleep before she could consider it further.


	26. Slayers True: Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Lina awoke slowly to hear Amelia humming happily as she brushed her hair. The droopy young girl had vanished with the night, and the cheerful Champion of Justice was back in full force. "Eh… Amelia… you had to remind me why I don't share hotel rooms with you…" Lina buried her head under her pillow.

Amelia bounced over and threw open the shutters, letting light into the room. "But it's such a beautiful morning, Miss Lina! Look!"

Lina peeked out from under the pillow and had to at least agree in part. "Yeah, it's lovely." She sat up, pushing her hair out of her face and looking at Amelia. "Are you all right, Amelia?"

"I'm fine. You were right, Miss Lina. I'm only as alone as I force myself to be… and so I'm going to embrace the world with the spirit of love and justice!" Amelia bubbled.

Her redheaded companion immediately decided that this was more than she was equipped to handle this morning, and promptly fell over with a groan. "Oh Cepheid… I can't take this…"

Amelia paused, looking at Lina in concern. "Miss Lina…?"

Lina pulled the blanket over her head. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going back to sleep. There's just too much… cheerfulness in here for me."

"Um, okay, Miss Lina. I'll tell everyone for you!" The door shut behind Amelia.

Lina sat up with a sigh. Lest Amelia make a mess of things and worry people, Lina dressed in all haste, brushing out her hair entirely too quickly for comfort. She was tying the ribbon about her hair as she stepped out of the room – and walked right into Zelgadis, who had just been about to knock on the door. 

Once again, he was forced to catch her or be knocked over. "Lina, we're going to have to stop meeting like this. People will talk," he said with a gentle hug as he set her on her feet.

A thrill rippled through her and she blushed. "They already are… I'm sure my sister has found out and has told everyone back home."

"Well, that will make it easier, won't it?" Zelgadis said, offering Lina his arm.

Lina looked at him funny, taking his arm and recalling the last time that she had done this. It was in that stupid Temple of Marriage, when they were looking for the fifth weapon of Dark Star. Amelia had been so angry…

They walked arm-in-arm into the dining area, and Amelia looked over and waved cheerfully. She'd known then that she wasn't what Zelgadis needed… wasn't who he was destined for… but it hadn't made her happy. But now, she was a little older, a little wiser, and when she didn't let herself get depressed over something that could never have been, she could see it. There was a light in his eyes when he looked at Miss Lina… a glow of warmth. Lina was his true counterpart, complimenting him like a flame that revealed the fire within a crystal.

The pair walked up to the table where Amelia and Gourry were eating, and only then did Zelgadis allow Lina to slip out of his grasp. Sitting, Lina contemplated this recent twist. Her stomach gave a funny little flip as something occurred to her. He'd said something about it being easier if the people back in her home knew… _Oh no! Oh great Cepheid! He's not… he couldn't…! I mean, it's not that I hardly know him, but… I'm not ready to settle down yet!_

They sat through the entire meal, no-one saying anything, which set Lina on edge all the more. She felt like they were plotting something, but she couldn't figure out what, and she was starting to get more than a little nervous. "So… what are the plans for today?" She asked with false brightness.

"I don't think we had any, Miss Lina. After yesterday, I think it would be a good idea to take it easy today and get on the road tomorrow," Amelia said, setting down her empty teacup.

Gourry nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. I could use a day when I didn't have to worry about anyone or anything."

Lina eyed Gourry disbelievingly. "Since _when do __you worry about __anything?"_

Gourry looked at her in all seriousness. "Any time one of you gets out of my sight. I'm sorry, Lina, but trouble is drawn to you like a moths are drawn to a flame… and that makes you constantly at the top of my worry list."

Lina's mouth fell open. "I'm trouble? _I'm trouble?! Let me show you trouble, mister!" She reached out and flicked her finger at him. "Fireball." A miniature fireball appeared and popped by his nose._

Amelia giggled; Zelgadis shook his head.

Gourry blinked. He'd been expecting something far more… destructive than that. He reached up, rubbing at his nose. "That wasn't fair!"

Lina smirked, finishing the last of a sweet bun. "Would you rather me singe you? I can do that too."

Gourry was, fortunately enough, smart enough at the moment to reply, "No! I mean, I know you can, but I don't want to be hit with a big one…!"

Lina smirked. "Then I guess you'll just have to live with me being trouble."

Zelgadis stood from the table and looked to Lina. Understanding his silent request for her to join him, she waited long enough for him to be gone, but not too long for him to lose his patience. "I'd… better go see if he's okay… here…" She tossed a few coins on the table, much to Gourry and Amelia's surprise.

As Lina moved away from the table, Amelia leaned over to whisper at Gourry. "She must be worried about him. She never wants to pay…"

Gourry tried not to choke on his drink, but failed, spluttering at both Amelia and the coins.

"Zel…?" Lina called out as she left the hotel. No, he wasn't waiting by the door… but there was one of two places where he probably was. She took off to the little grove of trees first, and sure enough, there he was waiting for her. She came to a respectable halt before actually entering the clearing, brushed at an errant strand of hair, and thought briefly: Why am I doing that?? Shaking her head at herself, she walked quietly into the clearing and looked at him. "Zel…?"

He turned to look at her, eyes unusually expressive and reached out a hand to her. Walking forward, she took his hand with a frown. "Zel… what's wrong…?" Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered the fact that somewhere along the undoing of Rezo's spell, she'd stopped calling him Zelgadis, and gone to the more informal and familiar shortening of his name.

But her thoughts came to a momentary grinding halt when he fell to one knee and looked up at her. 

# Oh no… no… no… no… He can't be… he wouldn't…! Oh no…

"Lina… There's something of importance that I want to ask of you, and I know that you will want… time… to think it out. But please, listen to what I have to ask…." He started, a faint blush crossing his cheeks.

Oh… Cepheid… What do I do…? What do I say…? I've never… well, once, but that didn't mean anything! And I didn't get paid, either…! But this… It's… Zelgadis…

"Ever since I met you, I've felt… something… indescribable, unexplainable… and now I think I know what it is. You have a fire, a passion, and somewhere inside my soul, there was an echo of that. For a long time, I've kept this buried, thinking that you were for someone else… but now, now there's a chance…" he said, placing his lips to her hand and whispering the words against her glove.

_When I get over this, I'm going to kill him…! I'm so glad he isn't saying all of this in front of Gourry and Amelia! I'd never live the humiliation down!!! He's kneeling in front of me… spilling his soul… and it's… it's… She paused, growing wonder tingling at her mind__. It's amazing. I never thought… but here he is…is it that spell that's doing this?_

"Will you… will you…"

She held her breath.

"Will you marry me?"


	27. Slayers True: Chapter 26 - The Omake!!!

Chapter 26

Lina awoke slowly to hear Amelia humming happily as she brushed her hair. The droopy young girl had vanished with the night, and the cheerful champion of Justice was back in full force. "Eh… Amelia… you had to remind me why I don't share hotel rooms with you…" Lina buried her head under her pillow.

Amelia bounced over and threw open the shutters, letting light into the room. "But it's such a beautiful morning, Miss Lina! Look!"

Lina peeked out from under the pillow and had to at least agree in part. "Yeah, it's lovely." She sat up, pushing her hair out of her face and looking at Amelia. "Are you all right, Amelia?"

"I'm fine. You were right, Miss Lina. I'm only as alone as I force myself to be… and so I'm going to embrace the world with the spirit of love and justice!" Amelia bubbled.

Her redheaded companion immediately decided that this was more than she was equipped to handle this morning, and promptly fell over with a groan. "Oh Cepheid… I can't take this…"

Amelia paused, looking at Lina in concern. "Miss Lina…?"

Lina pulled the blanket over her head. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going back to sleep. There's just too much… cheerfulness in here for me."

"Um, okay, Miss Lina. I'll tell everyone for you!" The door shut behind Amelia.

Lina sat up with a sigh. Lest Amelia make a mess of things and worry people, Lina dressed in all haste, brushing out her hair entirely too quickly for comfort. She was tying the ribbon about her hair as she stepped out of the room – and walked right into Zelgadis, who had just been about to knock on the door. 

Once again, he was forced to catch her or be knocked over. "Lina, we're going to have to stop meeting like this. People will talk," he said with a gentle hug as he set her on her feet.

A thrill rippled through her and she blushed. "They already are… I'm sure my sister has found out and has told everyone back home."

"Well, that will make it easier, won't it?" Zelgadis said, offering Lina his arm.

Lina looked at him funny, taking his arm and recalling the last time that she had done this. It was in that stupid Temple of Marriage, when they were looking for the fifth weapon of Dark Star. Amelia had been so angry…

They walked arm-in-arm into the dining area, and Amelia looked over and waved cheerfully. She'd known then that she wasn't what Zelgadis needed… wasn't who he was destined for… but it hadn't made her happy. But now, she was a little older, a little wiser, and when she didn't let herself get depressed over something that could never have been, she could see it. There was a light in his eyes when he looked at Miss Lina… a glow of warmth. Lina was his true counterpart, complimenting him like a flame that revealed the fire within a crystal.

The pair walked up to the table where Amelia and Gourry were eating, and only then did Zelgadis allow Lina to slip out of his grasp. Sitting, Lina contemplated this recent twist. Her stomach gave a funny little flip as something occurred to her. He'd said something about it being easier if the people back in her home knew… _Oh no! Oh great Cepheid! He's not… he couldn't…! I mean, it's not that I hardly know him, but… I'm not ready to settle down yet!_

They sat through the entire meal, no-one saying anything, which set Lina on edge all the more. She felt like they were plotting something, but she couldn't figure out what, and she was starting to get more than a little nervous. "So… what are the plans for today?" She asked with false brightness.

"I don't think we had any, Miss Lina. After yesterday, I think it would be a good idea to take it easy today and get on the road tomorrow," Amelia said, setting down her empty teacup.

Gourry nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. I could use a day when I didn't have to worry about anyone or anything."

Lina eyed Gourry disbelievingly. "Since _when do __you worry about __anything?"_

Gourry looked at her in all seriousness. "Any time one of you gets out of my sight. I'm sorry, Lina, but trouble is drawn to you like moths are drawn to a flame… and that makes you constantly at the top of my worry list."

Lina's mouth fell open. "I'm trouble? _I'm trouble?! Let me show you trouble, mister!" She reached out and flicked her finger at him. "Fireball." A miniature fireball appeared and popped by his nose._

Amelia giggled; Zelgadis shook his head.

Gourry blinked. He'd been expecting something far more… destructive than that. He reached up, rubbing at his nose. "That wasn't fair!"

Lina smirked, finishing the last of a sweet bun. "Would you rather me singe you? I can do that too."

Gourry was, fortunately enough, smart enough at the moment to reply, "No! I mean, I know you can, but I don't want to be hit with a big one…!"

Lina smirked. "Then I guess you'll just have to live with me being trouble."

Zelgadis stood from the table and looked to Lina. Understanding his silent request for her to join him, she waited long enough for him to be gone, but not too long for him to lose his patience. "I'd… better go see if he's okay… here…" She tossed a few coins on the table, much to Gourry and Amelia's surprise.

As Lina moved away from the table, Amelia leaned over to whisper at Gourry. "She must be worried about him. She never wants to pay…"

Gourry tried not to choke on his drink, but failed, spluttering at both Amelia and the coins.

"Zel…?" Lina called out as she left the hotel. No, he wasn't waiting by the door… but there was one of two places where he probably was. She took off to the little grove of trees first, and sure enough, there he was waiting for her. She came to a respectable halt before actually entering the clearing, brushed at an errant strand of hair, and thought briefly: Why am I doing that?? Shaking her head at herself, she walked quietly into the clearing and looked at him. "Zel…?"

He turned to look at her, eyes unusually expressive and reached out a hand to her. Walking forward, she took his hand with a frown. "Zel… what's wrong…?" Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered the fact that somewhere along the undoing of Rezo's spell, she'd stopped calling him Zelgadis, and gone to the more informal and familiar shortening of his name.

But her thoughts came to a momentary grinding halt when he fell to one knee and looked up at her. 

# Oh no… no… no… no… He can't be… he wouldn't…! Oh no…

"Lina… There's something of importance that I want to ask of you, and I know that you will want… time… to think it out. But please, listen to what I have to ask…." He started, a faint blush crossing his cheeks.

Oh… Cepheid… What do I do…? What do I say…? I've never… well, once, but that didn't mean anything! And I didn't get paid, either…! But this… It's… Zelgadis…

"Ever since I met you, I've felt… something… indescribable, unexplainable… and now I think I know what it is. You have a fire, a passion, and somewhere inside my soul, there was an echo of that. For a long time, I've kept this buried, thinking that you were for someone else… but now, now there's a chance…" he said, placing his lips to her hand and whispering the words against her glove.

_When I get over this, I'm going to kill him…! I'm so glad he isn't saying all of this in front of Gourry and Amelia! I'd never live the humiliation down!!! He's kneeling in front of me… spilling his soul… and it's… it's… She paused, growing wonder tingling at her mind__. It's amazing. I never thought… but here he is…is it that spell that's doing this?_

"Will you… will you…"

She held her breath.

"Will you teach me the Dragon Slave?"

Even from a great distance away, the words could be heard.

"FIRE-BALL!!!!!!!!"


End file.
